Question on-a-2
On a 210-mile trip, Cameron drove at an average speed of 60 miles per hour for the first x hours. He then completed the trip, driving at an average speed of 50 miles per hour for the remaining y hours. If 
, what is the value of y ?
On a 210-mile trip, Cameron drove at an average speed of 60 miles per hour for
Hard-difficulty · SAT Math · Linear Equations in Two Variables — Writing equations from data/points. Read the question above, select your answer, and check the full explanation below to understand exactly why the correct choice works.
Answer explanation
The correct answer is 3. It’s given that Cameron drove 60 miles per hour for x hours; therefore, the distance driven at this speed can be represented by 
. He then drove 50 miles per hour for y hours; therefore, the distance driven at this speed can be represented by 
. Since Cameron drove 210 total miles, the equation 
represents this situation. If , substitution yields 
, or 
. Subtracting 60 from both sides of this equation yields 
. Dividing both sides of this equation by 50 yields 
.
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