1. Lesson 5

1.4. Discover

Mathematics 20-1 Module 6

Module 6: Rational Expressions

 

Discover

 

This is an image of a woman riding a scooter on a stretch of highway.

iStockphoto/Thinkstock

One of the first events at Super Race Day is Scooter Rendezvous. Scooters have long represented a fun and economical way of travelling. Not all scooters are built the same. Some scooters have larger engines, others have more storage room, and all have unique designs.

 

In Scooter Rendezvous team members start at opposite ends of a 50-km stretch of highway. Each team member drives toward the other. The event is completed when the scooters meet. The time it takes each team to complete the event is recorded. Winners are declared based on the fastest times.

 



Try This 1

 

Karim and Chandelle participated in Scooter Rendezvous. Karim drove the Vespa LX 50 at an average speed of 60 km/h. Chandelle drove the Honda Big Ruckus at an average speed of 90 km/h.

  1. Place the information from the question into the following chart. Where a quantity is unknown, use a variable or expression.

     
      Distance (km) Speed (km/h)
    Karim    
    Chandelle hint  


  2. What do you know about the time it took for Karim to arrive at the rendezvous compared to the time it took for Chandelle to arrive at the rendezvous?

  3. Use a strategy of your choice to determine the distance travelled by each driver. Ask yourself these questions if you get stuck:

    • What strategy can I use? hint

    • What is another strategy that I can use? hint

    • What is a third strategy that I can use? hint

    • What is a hint about the answer? hint

course folder Save your work in your course folder.

 

You will revisit these results later in the lesson.

The distances travelled by each person is a multiple of 10.
Try different values for the distance travelled by each person. Remember that the distances must add up to 50 km. You may want to use a spreadsheet to keep track of the values.
Write and solve a system of equations based on the idea that each driver will have driven for the same amount of time upon meeting.
Write and solve a rational equation based on the relationship
50 − d