Chapter 3 – Quadratic Equations Baseline 3.

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3.5: Solving problems involving Quadratic Equations
Question 1
A lorry drove 45 km from Town P to Town Q at an average speed of y km/h. It returned from Town
Q to Town P by the same route.
(a) Write down an expression, in terms of y, for the number of hours taken to travel from Town P
to Town Q.

(b) The average speed for the return journey was 5 km/h less than the outward journey. Write
down an expression, in terms of y, for the number of hours taken to travel from Town Q to
Town P.

(c) If the return journey was 1 hour 30 minutes more than the outward journey, write down an
equation in y, and show that it reduces to y 2  5 y  150  0 .

(d) Solve the equation y 2  5 y  150  0 .

(e) Find the time taken by the lorry to travel from Town P to Q, giving your answer, in hours and
minutes.
Question 2
Tap A takes x hours to fill a pool. Tap B takes 2 hours lesser than Tap A to fill the same pool.
(a) Write down, in terms of x,
(i) the fraction of the pool filled by Tap A alone in an hour,

(ii) the fraction of the pool filled by Tap B alone in an hour.

(b) Tap A and Tap B can fill up a swimming pool in 5 hours if they are turned on together. Form an
equation in x and show that it reduces to x 2  12 x  10  0 .

(c) Solve x 2  12 x  10  0 .

(d) Briefly explain why one of the answers cannot be accepted.

(e) Find the time taken by Tap B to fill the pool alone, giving your answer, in hours and minutes.
Question 3
Paul and Daniel participated in the 42 km running event in the Standard Charted Marathon 2011.
Paul completed the race with an average speed of x km/h.
(a) Write down an expression, in terms of x, for the time taken, in hours, for Paul to complete the
run.

(b) Daniel’s average speed was 2 km/h slower than Paul’s. Write down an expression for
(i) his average speed for the race,

(ii) the time, in hours, that he took to complete the race.

(c) Given that Paul completed the race 30 minutes head of Daniel, form an equation in x and show
that it reduces to x 2  2 x  168  0 .

(d) Solve the equation x 2  2 x  168  0 and find the average speed of Daniel.
Question 4
When travelling up a slope, a car runs x kilometres on each litre of petrol.
(a) Find, in terms of x, the number of litres of petrol used when the car travelled 100 km up the
slope.

(b) When travelling down the slope, the car runs (x + 4) kilometres on each litre of petrol. Express
the number of litres of petrol required to travel 100 km.

(c) The car uses 5 litres less petrol to travel 100 km down the slope than up the slope. Write down
an equation involving x and show that it simplifies to x 2  4 x  80  0 .

(d) Solve x 2  4 x  80  0 , expressing your answer in 2 decimal places.