Question

Two teams are competing in the final race at a robotic car competition. The distance team H's car has traveled from the starting line is described by the table.Team J's car earned a 50-meter head start because their performance in the preliminary rounds. The distance Team J's car is from the true starting line is represented by the graph. The finish line is 400 meters from the start line. Which teams car wins, and at what speed is it moving?

Answer 1

Let the t be the time that team J finishes.

The speed of team J is given by:

$s=\frac{100-50}{1-0}=50$

Since time is given by distance divided by speed:

$t=\frac{400}{50}=8\text{ min}$

The speed of team H is given by:

$s=\frac{300-225}{4-3}=\frac{75}{1}=75$

Since time is given by distance divided by speed:

$t=\frac{400}{75}=5.33\text{ min}$

Since the time for team H is smaller than for team J it follows that team H won

and the speed is 75 m/min