Quiz #1 solutions

Math 120, Fall 2012

1. Erik’s disabled sailboat is floating at a stationary location 3 miles East and 2 miles South of Kingston, as in
the picture below. Edmonds is 6 miles due East of Kingston.

sailboat

A ferry leaves Kingston heading due East toward Edmonds at 13.2 feet/sec.
At the same time, Erick leaves his sailboat in a dinghy heading North at 4 mph, hoping to intercept the ferry.

a) (4 pts) On the picture above, draw a coordinate system with the origin at Erik’s stationary disabled sailboat.
In this coordinate system, and using miles for units, list the following (no need to justify) :
 Kingston’s coordinates: (-3, 2)
 Edmonds’ coordinates: (3, 2)
 The equation of the line along which the ferry travels: y=2
 The coordinates of the point where Erik hopes to intercept the ferry: (0, 2)
b) (3 pts) Can Erik catch the ferry? Justify your answer and show all work.

Erik has to travel 2 miles straight North to reach the ferry route at the point (0,2).
At 4 mph, it takes him: time=dist/rate=2miles/4 mph=0.5 hrs.

The ferry has to travel 3 miles straight West to reach the point (0, 2).
At 13.2 feet/sec=13.2 ft/sec*3600 sec/5280 feet=9mph, the ferry takes
time=dist/rate=3miles/9mph =1/3 hrs.

So Erik misses the ferry .

2. (3 pts) Solve for x the following equation:

Show your work.

You may leave your answer either in exact form, or in decimal form with 2 digits of precision.

Method I: Simplify the fraction on the left to get rid of the stacked fraction:

The equation then becomes:

Cross-multiply to get:

This is a linear equation in x, so separate the x:

Method II: First cross-multiply, then separate the x:

Cross-multiply again: