Math Problem of the Week - Algebra and Up - May 30, 2021 to June 5, 2021

Algebra and Up: 

Question: A robot can run 25 meters per second. The robot's robot dog, K9, can run 20 meters per second. If K9 runs away from the robot and the robot starts chasing it 10 seconds later, how long will it take for the robot to run and catch K9? 

Answer: 40 seconds

Solution: By the time the robot starts running, K9 has already gone 20 x 10 = 200 meters. So, we need to know when the distance the robot can run in x seconds is equal to 200 meters more than K9 can run in the same amount of time: 

25x = 200 + 20x

5x = 200

x = 40 seconds