Esther drove to work in the morning at an average speed of 45 miles per hour. she returned home in the evening along the same route and averaged 30 miles per hour. if esther spent a total of one hour commuting to and from work, how many miles did esther drive to work in the morning?

The key is Esther travelled the same distance - x - in both her morning and evening commute.

45(time she took in the morning, or p) = x
30(time she took in the evening, or q) = x

Therefore 45(p) = 30(q), or divide both sides by 5 and get 9(p) = 6(q). I know you can divide it further, but these numbers are small enough and it's not worth the time.

Since the whole trip took an hour, (p + q) = 60min, and so, p = 60-q.

Therefore 9(60-q) = 6q or 540-9q = 6q. So 540 = 15q, which makes q = 36. If q = 36, then by (p+q)=60, p (the time she took in the morning) must equal 24.

45 miles per hour, her speed in the morning, times (24/60) hours, her time, makes 18 miles travelled in the morning. If you check, 30 miles per hour times (36/60) hours also makes 18 miles in the evening.

Hope that makes a little sense. And I also hope it's right

Let distance to work be x miles.
speed = 45 mph
so time = x/45 hours
return speed = 30 mph
return time = x/30

x/45+x/30 = 1
30x+45x / 30*45 =1
75x= 30*45
/75
x= 30*45/75

x=18 miles ... distance to work place

yes

step-by-step explanation:

always plug in x. in this case, x equals 4.

i'm going to first solve 4(2+3x)

1) 4(2+3(4)) use pemdas to solve.

i'm going to multiply whats in the parenthesis first, so 3 times 4=12.

2)4 (2+12) i'm then going to multiply 4 by both numbers in the parenthesis (because multiplying comes before adding)

4 times 2= 8.   4 times 12= 48

4) (8+48)= 56 (answer)

i'm then going to solve 8+12x and plug in 4 for x.

1) 8 +12(4)

multiplying comes before adding, so i'm gonna multiply 12 and 4.

12 times 4= 48.

2) 8+48=56

both equal the same!

10,000 hope i ! : )