Chapter 3 Section 6 part 2 – Distance, Rate, Time Problems
Word Problems…YAY!! 
A train leaves a train station at 1 P.M. It travels at an average rate of 72 mi/h. A high-speed train leaves the
same station an hour later. It travels at an average rate of 90 mi/h. The second train follows the same
route as the first train on a track parallel to the first. In how many hours will the second train catch up with
the first train?
STEP 1: Read the problem
STEP 2: Read the problem with a purpose
 Read one sentence at a time and analyze what it means to the problem.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
 What type of problem is this? What formula will you need to use?
 What are we trying to find out? What will your variable be?
STEP 3: Relate the information that you know
 You can use a table to relate all of the information that you know from the problem:
Train
1
2

Rate
Time
Distance Traveled
If we’re trying to find out when the trains catch up to each other, what does that mean about their
distances.
STEP 4: Rate the equation and solve
STEP 5: Remember what the equation was asking! What is the answer to the problem
A group of campers and one group leader left a campsite in a canoe. They traveled at an average rate of
10 km/h. Two hours later, the other group leader left the campsite in a motorboat. He traveled at an
average rate of 22 km/h.
a. How long after the canoe left the campsite did the motorboat catch up with it?
b. How long did the motorboat travel?