Question

A puppy and a kitten are 180 meters apart when they see each other. The puppy can run at a speed of 25 m/sec, while the kitten can run at a speed of 20 m/sec.

How soon will the puppy catch the kitten if the puppy starts running after the kitten?

Answer 1

Make two equations representing the position of each animal, p and k, for the puppy and kitten respectively.

p=25t and k=180+20t  

The puppy will catch the kitten when p=k so we can say:

25t=180+20t  subtract 20t from both sides

5t=180  divide both sides by 5

t=36

So the puppy will catch the kitten after 36 seconds.

Answer 2

The puppy will catch the kitten after 36 seconds if the puppy starts running after the kitten.

What is a word problem?

In mathematical concepts, word problems are problems that need a critical understanding to identify the variables used and build up a model around that variables with its arithmetic operations.

From  the information given:

Suppose we have two equivalent equations that denote each animal.

Let:

• puppy = a
• kitten = b

• a = 25(t)
• b = 180 + 20t

The estimate at which the puppy will catch the kitten can be determined if we equate both expressions together;

i.e.

25t = 180 + 20t

25t - 20t = 180

5t = 180

t = 180/5

t = 36 seconds

Learn more about word problems here:

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