Relay Races Two runners ran as a team in a 5,000-m relay race. The first runner ran 500 m farther than the second runner. How many meters did each run?

The first runner ran 2750 meters and second runner ran 2250 meters

Solution:

Given that,

Relay Races Two runners ran as a team in a 5,000-m relay race

Let "a" be the distance ran by first runner

Let "b" be the distance ran by second runner

The first runner ran 500 m farther than the second runner

Therefore,

distance ran by first runner = 500 + distance ran by second runner

a = 500 + b

a - b = 500

Thus the difference between the distance ran by first runner and distance ran by second runner is 500

Now lets try out different pairs of numbers with a sum of 5000 and the difference between that numbers should be 500

2500 + 2500 = 5000 [ But the difference is 2500 - 2500 = 0]

3000 + 2000 = 5000 [ But the difference is 3000 - 2000 = 1000 ]

2750 + 2250 = 5000 [The difference is 2750 - 2250 = 500 ]

Thus the pair of number is a = 2750 and b = 2250

Thus first runner ran 2750 meters and second runner ran 2250 meters