Multiple choice

A man leaves a town at $8$ a.m. on his bicycle moving at $10$ km/hr. Another man leaves the same town at $9$ a.m. on his scooter moving at $30$ km/hr. At what time does he overtake the man on the bicycle?

  1. $8.30$ a.m.
  2. $9$ a.m.
  3. $9.30$ a.m.
  4. $10$ am
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The first man has a 1-hour head start, covering 10 km. The relative speed is 30 - 10 = 20 km/hr. Time to overtake = distance / relative speed = 10 km / 20 km/hr = 0.5 hours (30 minutes). Since the second man started at 9 a.m., he overtakes at 9:30 a.m.

AI explanation

By 9 a.m., the cyclist has traveled for 1 hour at 10 km/hr to create a 10 km gap. The relative speed of the scooter to the bicycle is 30 km/hr minus 10 km/hr, which equals 20 km/hr. Using Time = Distance / Speed, the scooter takes 10 / 20 = 0.5 hours to close the gap, so it overtakes at 9:30 a.m.

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