Question

A policeman is 102 meters behind the thief. The policeman covers 27 meter and the thief covers 21 meters in a minute. Then after how many minutes a policeman catches the thief?
1. 17 minutes
2. 18 minutes
3. 19 minutes
4. 20 minutes

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 1 : 17 minutes

Given:

The distance between policeman and thief is 102 meters. The speed of policeman is 27 m/min and the speed of thief is 21 m/min.

Formula/Concept used:

Speed = Distance/time

Concept of relative speed

Calculation:

Both thief and policeman are running in the same direction then by the concept of relative speed

∴ Relative speed of policeman = (27 – 21) = 6 m/min

Now, the distance between policeman and thief is 102 meters

∴ Time taken by the policeman to catch the thief = 102/6 = 17 minutes

∴ The time taken by the policeman to catch the thief is 17 minutes