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# A Car Covers a Distance of 400 Km at a Certain Speed. Had the Speed Been 12 Km/H More, the Time Taken for the Journey Would Have Been 1 Hour 40 Minutes Less. Find the Original Speed of the Car. - Mathematics

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#### Question

A car covers a distance of 400 km at a certain speed. Had the speed been 12 km/h more, the time taken for the journey would have been 1 hour 40 minutes less. Find the original speed of the car.

#### Solution

Let x km/h be the original speed of the car.

We know that,

Time taken = "Distance"/"Speed"

It is given that the car covers a distance of 400 km with the speed of x km/h.

Thus, the time taken by the car to complete 400 km is

t = 400/"x"

Now, the speed is increased by 12 km.
Increased speed = (x + 12) km/h

Also given that, increasing the speed of the car will decrease the time taken by 1 hour 40 minutes.
Hence,

400/"x" - 400/("x" + 12) = 1 hour 40 minutes

⇒ 400/"x" - 400/("x" + 12) = 1 40/60

⇒ (400 ("x" + 12) - 400"x")/("x"("x" + 12)) = 1 2/3

⇒ (400"x" + 4800 - 400"x")/("x"("x" + 12)) = 5/3

⇒ 4800/("x"("x" + 12)) = 5/3

⇒ 3 x 4800 = 5 × x × (x + 12)
⇒ 14400 = 5x2 + 60x
⇒ 5x2 + 60x - 14400 = 0
⇒  x2 + 12x - 2880 = 0
⇒ x2 + 60x - 48x - 2880 = 0
⇒ x (x + 60) - 48 (x + 60) = 0
⇒ ( x + 60) ( x - 48) = 0
⇒ x + 60 = 0 or x - 48 = 0
⇒ x = -60 or x = 48

Since, speed cannot be negative, we reject -60.

Hence, the original speed of the car is 48 km/h.

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#### APPEARS IN

Selina Solution for Concise Mathematics for Class 10 ICSE (2020 (Latest))
Chapter 6: Solving (simple) Problems (Based on Quadratic Equations)
Exercise 6(C) | Q: 4 | Page no. 73
2011-2012 (March) (with solutions)
Question 9.3 | 4.00 marks
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#### Video TutorialsVIEW ALL [5]

A Car Covers a Distance of 400 Km at a Certain Speed. Had the Speed Been 12 Km/H More, the Time Taken for the Journey Would Have Been 1 Hour 40 Minutes Less. Find the Original Speed of the Car. Concept: Quadratic Equations.
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