Arun drove from home to his hostel at miles per hour. While returning home he drove half way along the same route at a speed of miles per hour and then took a bypass road which increased his driving distance by miles, but allowed him to drive at miles per hour along this bypass road. If his return journey took minutes more than his onward journey, then the total distance traveled by him is
Arun drove from home to his hostel at miles per hour. While returning home he drove half way along the same route at a speed of miles per hour and then took a bypass road which increased his driving distance by miles, but allowed him to drive at miles per hour along this bypass road. If his return journey took minutes more than his onward journey, then the total distance traveled by him is
Solution
Let's break down what's happening in Arun's journey:
Onward Journey: Home → Hostel at 60 mph (straight route)
Return Journey:
First half: Same route at 25 mph
Second half: Bypass road (5 miles longer) at 50 mph
Key Information: Return journey took 30 minutes (0.5 hours) more than onward journey.
Let the distance from home to hostel = x miles
Time for onward journey = hours
The return journey has two parts:
Part 1: Half the original distance at 25 mph
Distance = miles
Time = hours
Part 2: Remaining distance + 5 extra miles on bypass at 50 mph
Distance = miles
Time = hours
Total return time =
Since return journey took 0.5 hours more than onward journey:
Combining fractions on the left side:
The equation becomes:
Multiplying everything by 300 (LCM of 50 and 60):
Now that we know the one-way distance is 30 miles:
Onward Journey: 30 miles
Return Journey:
First half on original route: 15 miles
Second half on bypass: 15 + 5 = 20 miles
Total Distance = 30 + 15 + 20 = 65 miles
Therefore, the total distance traveled by Arun is 65 miles.