Hello;

My name is Aaron Williams
This question is from a ninth grade algebra II class I am a student.

The question is a word problem. It is...

A man jogs down the hill at 6 miles per hour and back up at 4 miles per hour. The total time that he travels is 5/4 hours. What is the total distance that he jogged.

The solution is supposedely 3 miles, but i believe that it is 6. Can you help me? Please. My equation was (x/4) + (x/6) = 5/4 or distance/rate = time

Now, this equation solves to x = 3, but isnt x the distance of the hill only going one direction? This would make the real answer 6 miles total distance, because he goes down x distance and then back up x distance, and teh problem asks for his total distance. Thank you for your help!

Hi Aaron,

It cannot be 3 miles: that would be 3/2 miles down in 3/12 hours and 3/2 miles up in 3/8 hours, for a total of 5/8 hours, not 5/4 hours.

So, trust yourself. Your solution is correct.

Cheers,
Claude
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