Question:

A car started from town A to town B and a lorry from town B to town A. Car Speed is
26 km/hr faster than lorry. After an hour they were 177 km apart. After 2.5hrs they
passed each other.
What is the speed of the car ?
High
Solution
Pictorial
Representation
Possible
mistakes
Additional
Questions
Level of Difficulty :
Marks : 5
Key points in
the question
Key Points:

A car started from town A to town B and a lorry from town B to town A. Car
Speed is 26 km/hr faster than lorry. After an hour they were 177 km apart.
After 2.5hrs they passed each other.
Pictorial Representation:
177km
Car Lorry
At start
After 1hr
A B
A B
A B
After 2.5 hrs
Car and lorry
pass each other
(that means after another 1.5 hrs)

speed = Lorry Speed + 26 km/hr
Car Lorry
Solution:
Speed of car =
177km
Car speed = Lorry Speed + 26 km/hr
Lorry
At start
After 1hr
A B
A B
A B
After 2.5 hrs
Car and lorry
pass each other
(that means in another 1.5 hrs)

Fig :1
Fig :2
Fig :3
km 69 138
2
1

hr km/ 72 2
3
108
5 . 1
108
36

Referring to Fig :2 and Fig :3, car and lorry travelled 177 km in 1.5 hrs.

Car travels faster than lorry 26 km/hr faster
In 1.5 hrs car travelled 1.5 x 26 km more than lorry 39 km
So, the remaining distance (177 39 = 138 km) was covered by car and lorry equally.
Distance covered by lorry in 1.5 hr =
Distance covered by car in 1.5 hrs = 39 + 69 = 108km
39 km 138 km
distance covered by
car and lorry equally
car
lorry
177km
Ans : 72km
Check the answer :
Distance travelled by lorry in 1.5hrs = 69km

Speed of lorry =

Difference between car and lorry speed = 72 46 = 26km
hr km/ 46 2
3
69
5 . 1
69
23

Possible mistakes:
2) In covering 177km, the car is travelling faster and will cover more distance.
It may easily be mistaken that the car and lorry covered the distance 177km equally.
3) Should carefully note the question. The speed of the car is asked. Pupil may calculate speed of
lorry and answer the question.
1) After an hour they were 177 km apart. After 2.5hrs they passed each other.
Here is it should be carefully noted that 177km was covered by the car and lorry in another 1.5hrs
and NOT in 2.5 hrs.
Additional Questions:
1) What is the distance between town A and town B ?
Total travel time = 2.5 hrs
Car speed = 72km/hr
Distance travelled by car = 72 x 2.5 = 180km
Lorry speed = 46km/hr
Distance travelled by Lorry = 46 x 2.5 = 115km
Total distance travelled = 180 + 115 = 295km

hr km/ 59
2
118
2
46 72

2) What is the average speed for the journey ?

Total distance = 295km
Time taken to complete the journey 2.5 hrs
Average speed =
Average speed of journey is NOT the average of (car speed + lorry speed) which is
hr km/ 118
5 . 2
295