Time and Distance
1. A train met with an accident 3 hours after starting, which
detains it for one hour, after which it proceeds at three-fourth
of its original speed. It arrives at the destination 4 hours late.
Had the accident taken place 150 km farther along the rail-
1 the Bangalore-Mumbai plane and the time required to reach
way line, the train would have arrived only 3 hours late.
2 Mumbai.
Find the length of the trip and the original speed of the train.
2. A set out to walk at the rate of 8 km/hr. After he had been
3 1
walking for 2 hours, B set out to overtake him and went 9
4 2
1
km, the first hour, 9 km the second, 10 the third and so on.
2
In how many hours would B overtake A?
3. Two men together start on a journey in the same direction.
They travel 9 and 15 km daily respectively. After travelling
for 6 days the man travelling at 9 km per day doubles his
speed and both of them finish the distance in the same time.
Find the time taken by them to reach their destination.
4. A train crosses two cyclists which are moving with the speeds
K
of 5 km/hr and 6 km/hr respectively in 9 seconds and 10
seconds respectively. Find the speed of the train if cyclists
are moving in opposite directions.
5. A man ‘A’ is firing bullets at a railway station and at the same
time another man ‘B’ sitting in a train is coming towards ‘A’.
When ‘A’ fired his first bullet ‘B’ heard the sound after some
time. ‘A’ fired another bullet just after 12 seconds but ‘B’
heard the sound just 10 seconds after hearing the sound of
the first bullet. If the speed of the sound is 100 m/sec, find
the speed of the train.
6. A locomotive engine without wagons can run at 44 km/hr. The
speed diminishes by a quantity which varies as the cube
KUNDAN
root of the number of wagons attached. With 8 wagons, the
speed is 36 km/hr. Find the maximum number of wagons that
the engine can move.
7. A train, an hour after starting, meets with an accident, which
detains it for 30 min. After this the train proceeds at 2/3 of its
former speed and arrives 5 hours late. Had the accident hap-
pened 90 km farther along the line and it proceeded at 3/4 of
its former speed, it would have arrived 3 hours late. Find the
length of the journey and the speed of the train.
8. The distance between two stations X and Y is 720 km. Trains
P and Q leave station X at 10 am and 8 am respectively at the
speed of 60 km/hr and 20 km/hr respectively for journey
towards Y. A train R leaves station Y at 6 am on the same day
at a speed of 45 km/hr for journey towards X. When and
where will P be at equal distance from Q and R? (Assume all
the trains as points.)
9. A train after travelling 150 km meets with an accident and
then proceeds with 3 5 of its former speed and arrives its
destination 8 hours late. Had the accident occurred 360 km
further, it would have reached the destination 4 hours late.
What is the speed of the train and the total distance trav-
elled by it?
10. A Bangalore-Mumbai Air India plane leaves Bangalore at
9.00 am. At the same time another plane leaves Mumbai for
Bangalore. After passing each other they complete their jour-
1 1
ney in 84 and 60 minutes respectively. The speed of
2 2
the Mumbai-Bangalore plane is 260 km/hr. Find the speed of
11. There are three towns A, B and C. A person by walking from
A to B, driving from B to C and riding from C to A makes the
journey in 15 hrs. By driving from A to B, riding from B to
C and walking from C to A he completes the journey in 12
hrs. On foot he completes the journey in 22 hrs, on horse-
1
back in 8 hrs and driving in 11 hrs. To walk a km, ride a km
4
and drive a km, he takes altogether half an hour. Find the
rates at which he travels and the distance between the towns.
12. A train, an hour after starting, meets with an accident which
detains it for an hour, after which it proceeds at three-fifths
of its former rate and arrives 3 hours late. But had the acci-
dent happened 50 km farther on the line, it would have ar-
rived 1½ hours late. Find the length of the journey and the
original speed of the train.
13. ‘A’ set out to walk at the rate of 8 km an hour. After he had
been walking for 2¾ hours, ‘B’ set out to overtake him and
walked 9 km in the first hour, 9½ km in the second, 10 km in
the third, and so on, gaining half a km every hour. In how
many hours would B overtake A?
14. A motorcyclist and a cyclist start simultaneously from a point
P for Q. The distance between P and Q is 60 km. Speed of
motorcycle is 20 km/hr more than the cyclist’s. After travel-
ling the distance of 30 km, the motorcylist takes rest for an
hour. Again he starts for his destination but owing to some
technical problem his speed reduces by 50%. Despite the
technical problem he reaches the destination Q two hours
before the cyclist. What is the speed of the cyclist?
15. A bus ‘A’ left a town ‘M’ for another town ‘N’ at 5.00 am. At
6.30 am another bus ‘B’ left ‘M’ for ‘N’ and the speed of this
bus is 5 km/hr greater than that of ‘A’. At 9.30 pm on the
same day, the buses were 21 km apart. Find the speed of ‘A’.
16. ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ start at the same time for a town ‘a’ km dis-
tant. ‘A’ walks at a uniform rate of ‘u’ km/hr and ‘B’ and ‘C’
each drive at a uniform rate of ‘v’ km/hr. After a certain time
‘B’ dismounts and walks forward at the same pace as ‘A’,
while ‘C’ drives back to meet ‘A’. ‘A’ gets into the carriage
with C and they drive after ‘B’, entering the town at the same
time as B does. Show that the whole time taken was
a 3v  u
. hrs .
v 3u  v
17. A train, one-and-a-half hours after starting, meets with an
accident which detains it for 40 minutes, after which it pro-
ceeds at 9/10th of its former rate and arrives 1½ hours late.
Had the accident happened 45 km farther along the line, it
would have arrived only 85 minutes late. Find the length of
the trip.
 the distance from A to B. If the speed of the automobile were
18. An automobile leaves A for B and a motorcycle leaves B for 20 km/hr less, the distance between the meeting points would
A at the same time and at a smaller speed. After a time they be 72 km and the first meeting would occur 3 hours after the
meet, and at that instant another motorcycle leaves B for A automobile left A. Find the distance between A and B.
and meets the automobile at a point whose distance from the
2
meeting point of the automobile and first motorcycle is of
9

K
KUNDAN
 Answers and explanation
1. Let the length of the trip and the original speed of the train 4. Suppose the speed of the train = V m/sec
be d km and x km/hr respectively. and length of the train = Lm
Suppose the train is moving in the direction of first cyclist.
d
 Total time taken to complete the journey = hour Then length of the train
x L = (Relative Speed) × time
Distance covered by train in 3 hours = 3x km
 55 
 Remaining distance = d  3x  km or, L  V    9 ....(i)
 18 
3 Also, with respect to the second cyclist
Speed of train after accident = x km/hr
4
According to the question,  65 
L  V    10 ....(ii)
 18 
d  3x y
3   4  15 x  d  0 From (i) and (ii), we have
3 x .... (i)
x 25 50
4 9V   10V 
2 3
If the accident had taken place 150 km farther, then remain-
25 50
ing distance = d  3x  150 or, V  
2 3
3 x  150 d  3 x  150  d 7 75  100 175
    =  m/sec
x 3 x 2 6 6
x
4 –ve sign shows that our assumption that the train is moving

K
 2 d  27 x  300 .... (ii) in the direction of the first cyclist is not correct, ie the train is
Solving equations (i) and (ii), we get moving in the direction of the second cyclist
x  100 km/hr and d = 1500 km 175 18 = 105 km/hr
V 
2. Let B overtake A after ‘n’ hours. 6 5
Then the distance covered by B in ‘n’ hours 5. If the train is static the person will hear the sound after 12
1 1 seconds. Thus suppose the person ‘B’ sitting in train is 12 ×
= 9  9  10  10 ....  n speed of sound = 12 × 100 = 1200m far from A.
2 2
10×Vt 10 × Vs
n 1 n 1 B A
= 2  9  n  1  = 18  n  1  1200m

KUNDAN
2 2 2 2 Now, B hears the sound after 10 seconds thus
1 1 2 n 35 1 10  Vt  10  Vs  1200
= 9n + n(n – 1) = 9n  n   n  n2
4 4 4 4 4 where, Vt = speed of the train and
11 Vs = speed of the sound
Distance covered by A = 8   8n  22  8n
4 Now, 10  Vt  10 100  1200
35n 1 2 or, 10  Vt  1200  1000  200
Then, 22  8n   n
4 4
18
or, n 2  35n  32n  88 or, n 2  3n  88  0 or, Vt  200  20 m/sec = 20  = 72 km/hr
10 5
or, n 2  11n  8n  88  0 6. Let the number of wagons = x
and the quantity of diminished speed
or, nn  11  8n  11  0 = V km/hr
or, n  11n  8  0 According to the question,
1/ 3
V  x  V = k ( x ) 1/ 3 ..... (i)
 n  8 hours [k = proportional constant]
3. Speed of the 1st man = 9 km per day Speed of engine without wagons = 44 km/hr
 Distance travelled by him in 6 days = 54 km Speed of engine with wagons = 36 km/hr
Speed of the 2nd man = 15 km per day  V = 44 - 36 = 8 km/hr
1/3
 Distance travelled by him in 6 days = 90 km  8 = k (8)  k = 4
 Difference in the distance covered by them in 6 days = 90 Maximum number of wagons would be when V is just less
– 54 = 36 km than 44 because at V = 44, the engine will stop.
Now, speed of the 1st man after 6 days = 9 × 2 Now, for V = 44, we get
= 18 km per day 44 = 4( x ) 1/ 3  11 = ( x ) 1/ 3
Cubing on both sides, we get
Relative speed = (18 – 15) = 3 km per day
11 × 11 × 11 = x  x = 1331
36 Thus the max. no. of wagons at which the train can move
 Time required to travel 36 km = 3  12 days is 1331-1 = 1330.
7. Let the length of the journey and the speed of train be y km
Total time taken to cover the whole distance and x km/hr respectively.
= 6 + 12 = 18 days
  time taken to complete the whole journey  XP   60 t
y
= hrs.
XQ  40  20t  XB  40 km
x
YR   180  45t  YA  180 km
Case I: First the train covers x km at x km/hr and the remain-
As given XP  XQ  PR 
2
ing distance (y - x) km at the speed of x km/hr.. or, XP  XQ  720  XP  YR 
3
According to the question, or, XP  XQ  XP  YR   720
1 yx y or, 60t  40  20t  60t  180  45t  720
1   5 or, 145t  720  40  180
2 2 x
x
3 580
or, t  4
3 3( y  x ) y 145
or,   5 Hence, 4 hours after 10 am, ie at 2 pm, P will be at equal
2 2x x
distance from Q and R.
3( y  x ) y 3 Hence XP   60 t  60  4  240 km.
or,   5
2x x 2 9. Here the speeds of the train up to 150 km are the same in
3y  3x  2 y 7 both the cases. And also, the speeds after (150 + 360 =) 510
or,  km are the same in both the cases. Thus the difference in
2x 2
time (8 - 4 =) 4 hours is only due to the difference in speeds
y  3x 7 for the 360-km journey.
or, 
2x 2 Now if the speed of the train is x km/hr then
or, y - 3x = 7x 360 360

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or, y = 10x .... (i)  4
3 x
Case II: First the train covers (x + 90) km at the original x
speed and the remaining distance of (y - x - 90) km at the 5

3 360  5  360  3
speed of x km/hr.. or, 4
4 3x
Again, from the question, 360  2
or, x   60
x  90 1 y  x  90 y 43
   3
x 2 3 x Hence speed = 60 km/hr
x
4 Now suppose the total distance travelled by train be D km.

KUNDAN
x  90 4( y  x  90) y 1 D
or,    3 Then  T (say) .... (i)
x 3x x 2 60
(Where T is the time taken by the train in whole journey if
3x  270  4 y  4 x  360  3 y 5
or,  the accident had not occurred)
3x 2 And, in first case,
5
or, -x + y - 90 = × 3x 150 D  150 
2   T8
60 36
or, -2x + 2y - 180 = 15x
or, 17x = 2y - 180 D  150  5.5
or, 17x = 20x - 180 [From equation (i)] or, T  ..... (ii)
36
or, 3x = 180 or, x = 60 km/hr
Putting the value of x in equation (i), we get Again,
y = 10x = 10 × 60 = 600 km. 510 D  510
8. As given, speed of train P = 60 km/hr   T4
60 36
As given, speed of train Q = 20 km/hr
As given, speed of train R = 45 km/hr
or, T 
D  510  4.5 .... (iii)
36
Now, from equations (i) and (ii)

Distance travelled by R between 6 am and 10 am D  150  5.5  D D  150  D  5.5

or,
= 45 × 4 = 180 km 36 60 36 60
Distance travelled by Q between 8 am and 10 am
5.5  36  60  60 150
= 20 × 2 = 40 km or, D  870
Assume that at 10 am the trains R and Q are at A and B 24
respectively. Hence, distance = 870 km.
Also assume that t hours after 10 am train P was equidistant 10. Let the total distance between Mumbai and Bangalore be D
from trains Q and R. At the equidistant position trains P, Q km and the speed of the Bangalore-Mumbai plane be x km/
and R were at P , Q and R  . hr.
 As the planes are moving in opposite directions, their rela-
xyz
tive speed is (x + 260) km/hr. and  22 ...... (iii)
3k
D Also, he walks, drives and rides 1 km each in half an hour.
Thus, they will meet after hrs.
x  260
1 1 1 1
Now, the distance covered by Bangalore-Mumbai plane in    
3k 6 k 8k 2
D Dx
hrs = km 843 1
x  260 x  260
or, 
And the distance covered by Mumbai-Bangalore plane in 24k 2
D D  260 15 1 5
hrs = km or,  or, k =
x  260 x  260 24k 2 4
Now, Bangalore-Mumbai plane passes the distance Substituting the value of k in (i), (ii) and (iii) we have
260D 169
in hrs. 4 x 4 y 4 z 31
x  260 120   
15 30 40 2
260D 120
Therefore, speed = 
x  260 169 32 x  16 y  12 z 31
or, 
260 120  D 120 2
 km/hr
169( x  260) or, 32x + 16y + 12z = 31 × 60
Similarly, the speed of Mumbai-Bangalore plane or, 8x + 4y + 3z = 465 ............. (iv)
Similarly, putting the value of k in (ii) and (iii), we get
Dx 120
= ( x  260) 121 km/hr 4x + 3y + 8z = 360 .............. (v)
x + y + z = 165 2 ........... (vi)

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Now, ratio of their speeds
Solving equations (iv), (v) and (vi), we get
260  120  D 121  (x  260) 1
x : 260 = x = 37 , y = 30 and z = 15
169( x  260) 120  Dx 2
x 260  121 1
or,   AB = 37 km, BC
260 169  x 2
2 = 30 km and CA = 15 km
2  11 
or, x  260   
2
15 3
 13  He walks  3 = km/hr
4 4

KUNDAN
11
or, x = 260 = 220 km/hr 1
13 He drives 7 km/hr and rides at 10 km/hr..
2
Total distance between Mumbai and Bangalore =
220 260
84.5   60.5   572 km 12. Let the original speed of the train be x km/hr and the length
60 60 of the journey y km.
So, the Bangalore-Mumbai plane will reach after Since the train, after one hour of its starting, meets with an
60 accident and is detained for one hour and then proceeds at
572  = 156 minutes
220 3
x km/hr speed.
ie, at 9 am + 2 hrs + 36 min = 11.36 am 5

yx y
11. By walking the person completes the journey in 22 hrs. Hence, 1  1    3 ........ (i)
3 x
By driving he completes the journey in 11 hrs. x
5
And by riding he completes the journey in 33 4 hrs.
5( y  x ) y  3x
Hence, his rates of walking, driving and riding are propor- or, 2  
3x x
1 1 4
tional to , , ie to 3, 6, 8 respectively. Thus he walks 6 x  5 y  5 x y  3x
22 11 33 or, 
3k km in an our, drives 6k km in an hour and rides 8k km in an 3x x
hour. or, x + 5y = 3 (y + 3x)
Let the distance between AB, BC and CA be x, y and z re- or, x + 5y = 3y + 9x
spectively. or, 2y = 8x or, y = 4x .......... (ii)
x y z 1 1
    15 ...... (i) In the second case it is clear that the train took 1 hrs more
3k 6k 8k 2 2
in travelling 50 km at diminished speed than it does in travel-
x y z ling 50 km at the original speed.
and    12 ........ (ii)
6 k 8k 3k
 50 50 3 30 30
  ............(iii) 1 
3
Thus, x x 2 = x  20 x  20 = 30  1  30  2 hr
2 x  20 x  20
5
We have been given
250 50 3
or,   60  30 60 
3x x 2  1 2
x  x  20 x  20 
250  150 3 100 3
or,  or,  60 30 60
3x 2 3x 2 or,   3
x x  20 x  20
100  2 200
or, x =  km/hr 60x  1200  30x  60x
9 9 or, 3
x x  20
Now, from (ii)
2
or, 1200 - 30x = 3x  60x
200 800
y = 4x = 4   km or, 3x 2  90x  1200  0
9 9
or, x 2  30x  400  0
800
Length of the journey = km and or, x 2  40x  10x  400  0
9
or, x(x + 40) - 10(x + 40) = 0
200
Speed of the train = km/hr or, (x - 10) (x + 40) = 0
9 or, x = 10, -40.
13. Let B overtake A after ‘n’ hours of B’s start. Negative value of x is not possible. Hence x = 10 km/hr.
Then distance covered by B in n hours 15. Let the speed of bus ‘A’ be V km/hr.

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 speed of bus ‘B’ = (V + 5) km/hr..
1 1
= 9  9  10  10  ...... upto n terms At 9.30 pm ‘B’ may have passed ‘A’ or it may have been 21
2 2 km behind ‘A’.
The above series is in Arithmetic progression (AP), where
the first term (a) = 9 1
Distance run by ‘A’ in 16 hrs = 33 2 V km.
and common difference (d) 2
Distance run by ‘B’ in 15 hrs = 15(V + 5) km
1 1 1
= 9  9  10  9  1
2 2 2 Case I: 16 V  15V  5  21
2
n
Sum of n terms = [2a + (n - 1) d] 1
2 or, 1 V  21  75  96

KUNDAN
Applying this formula for the above, we get 2
or, V = 64 km/hr
n 1 n
=  2  9  ( n  1)   [35  n ] ... (i) 1
2 2 4 Case II: 15(V + 5) – 16 V  21
2
11 1
Since A had already covered 8   22 km, total distance or, 75 – 21 = 1 V
4 2
covered by A in n hours = 22 + 8n .......... (ii) or, V = 36 km/hr
Equating equations (i) and (ii), we have Hence, the speed of the bus A will be either 64 km/hr or 36
km/hr.
n
[35  n ]  22  8n 16. Let x be the time in hrs after which B dismounts. Then A has
4
gone ux km and B and C have each gone vx km.
or, 35n  n 2  88  32n As total distance to be travelled is ‘a’ km, so B covers the
or, n 2  3n  88  0 a  vx
remaining (a - vx) km distance in hrs. Hence, the
2 u
or, n  11n  8n  88  0
or, (n - 8) (n + 11) = 0 a  vx
whole time taken by B to travel ‘a’ km is x  .
or, n = 8 (-ve value can’t be accepted) u
Hence, B overtakes A after 8 hrs. When C starts back to meet A they are (v - u)x km apart. Let
A and C meet in p hrs. Then
14. Suppose the speed of the cyclist is x km/hr.
p(u + v) = (v - u)x
 Speed of motorcyclist = x + 20 km/hr
 The required time to reach the destination by the cyclist = v  u x
or, p  ....(i)
vu
60
x Again, they meet at (x + p)u km from the starting point so
that the distance left to be travelled by A and C is a - (x + p)u
 The required time to reach the destination by the motor-
cyclist a  x  p u
and time taken in driving this distance is hrs.
v
As B and A enter the town at the same time, so
 a  vx a  x  p u y 3 45 2 10 y  15 x  450 85
 p or,     
u v x 2 x 3 9x 60
or, av  v 2 x  uvp  ua  u 2 x  p  y 3 405  10 y  15 x  450
 
or,
x 4 9x
or, av  v 2 x  uvp  ua  u 2 x  u 2 p
y 10 y  15x  45 3
or,  
 
or, a v  u   x v 2  u 2  upv  u  x 9x 4
or, a v  u   x v  u v  u   upv  u  or,
9 y  10 y  15x  45 3

or, a - x(v + u) = up 9x 4

v  u x 15x  y  45 3
or, a - x (v + u) = u. [From (i)] or, 
vu 9x 4
or, 60x - 4y + 180 = 27x
or, a v  u   x v  u 2  u v  u x or, 33x - 4y + 180 = 0

or, a v  u   x v  u 2  uv  u 2  or, 33x - 4 × 9x + 180 = 0 [From (i)]
or, 33x - 36x + 180 = 0
a vu or, 3x = 180 or, x = 60 km/hr
or, x  . And y = 9x = 9 × 60 = 540 km
v v  3u
Hence, the total time taken y 540
Normal time = = = 9 hours
a v  u  x 60
.u  v   a
vv  3u  18. Let the speed of the automobile be u km/hr, that of the mo-
=
u torcycle v km/hr, the distance AB = s km, and let t hours
elapse before the automobile and first motorcycle meet.

K
auu  3v  a u  3v 
= uvv  3u  = v3u  v  hrs. According to question,
t (u  v)  s ... (1)
17. Let the speed of the train be x km/hr.
And distance travelled be y km. 3(u - 20) + 3v = s ... (2)
y 2 2
Time taken normally = hrs s vt  s
x 9  9 .... (3)
u v
3x
Distance travelled by train in one-and-a-half hours = km 72 3v  72
2  .... (4)
u  20 v
3x 2 y  3x Eliminating the unknown t and simplifying from (1) and (3),

KUNDAN
Remaining distance = y   km we get the following:
2 2
Case I: Normal time taken = time taken before accident + stop s = 3(u + v - 20) ... (5)
during accident + time taken after accident at a slower rate - 9uv = 2(u  v) 2 ... (6)
total delay caused due to accident
v(u  20)  24(u  v  20) ... (7)
y 3 40 2 y  3x 3
or,     To find s we have to find u and v from last two equations.
x 2 60 9x 2
2 Noting that the second equation is in two variables, we can
10
easily find the ratio u : v.
y 2 10 y  15x Since we are interested in u and v different from zero, then
or,  
x 3 9x dividing the equation (6) by v 2 , we get a quadratic equation
y 10 y  15x 2 u
or,   in new variable z  ;
x 9x 3 v
9 y  10 y  15x 2
or,  2z 2  5z  2  0.
9x 3
z = 2, 1 / 2
15 x  y 2
or,  u
9x 3 So  2  u = 2v
v
or, y = 9x ..... (i)
u 1
Case II: According to the question, the accident had happened or  uv
v 2 2
45 km farther along the line, the train would have arrived 85 But from the statement of problem, u > v, and so we take u =
minutes late. 2v.
Again, applying the above formula, we have Substituting this value of u in the equation (7), we get either
2 y  3x v = 40 or v = 6,
y 3 45 40  45 But if v = 6, then u = 12. But it is given that u > 20. The
2 85
     problem is satisfied only by v = 40. Then u = 80 and s = 300.
x 2 x 60 9 60
x Therefore, the distance AB is found to be 300 km.
10
y 3 45 2 10 y  15x  450 85
or,     
x 2 x 3 9x 60