2001 AMC 8 Problems/Problem 19

Problem

Car M traveled at a constant speed for a given time. This is shown by the dashed line. Car N traveled at twice the speed for the same distance. If Car N's speed and time are shown as solid line, which graph illustrates this?

[asy] unitsize(12);  draw((0,9)--(0,0)--(9,0)); label("time",(4.5,0),S); label("s",(0,7),W); label("p",(0,6),W); label("e",(0,5),W); label("e",(0,4),W); label("d",(0,3),W); label("(A)",(-1,9),NW); draw((0,4)--(4,4),dashed); label("M",(4,4),E); draw((0,8)--(4,8),linewidth(1)); label("N",(4,8),E);  draw((15,9)--(15,0)--(24,0)); label("time",(19.5,0),S); label("s",(15,7),W); label("p",(15,6),W); label("e",(15,5),W); label("e",(15,4),W); label("d",(15,3),W); label("(B)",(14,9),NW); draw((15,4)--(19,4),dashed); label("M",(19,4),E); draw((15,8)--(23,8),linewidth(1)); label("N",(23,8),E);  draw((30,9)--(30,0)--(39,0)); label("time",(34.5,0),S); label("s",(30,7),W); label("p",(30,6),W); label("e",(30,5),W); label("e",(30,4),W); label("d",(30,3),W); label("(C)",(29,9),NW); draw((30,4)--(34,4),dashed); label("M",(34,4),E); draw((30,2)--(34,2),linewidth(1)); label("N",(34,2),E);  draw((0,-6)--(0,-15)--(9,-15)); label("time",(4.5,-15),S); label("s",(0,-8),W); label("p",(0,-9),W); label("e",(0,-10),W); label("e",(0,-11),W); label("d",(0,-12),W); label("(D)",(-1,-6),NW); draw((0,-11)--(4,-11),dashed); label("M",(4,-11),E); draw((0,-7)--(2,-7),linewidth(1)); label("N",(2,-7),E);  draw((15,-6)--(15,-15)--(24,-15)); label("time",(19.5,-15),S); label("s",(15,-8),W); label("p",(15,-9),W); label("e",(15,-10),W); label("e",(15,-11),W); label("d",(15,-12),W); label("(E)",(14,-6),NW); draw((15,-11)--(19,-11),dashed); label("M",(19,-11),E); draw((15,-13)--(23,-13),linewidth(1)); label("N",(23,-13),E); [/asy]

Solution

Since car N has twice the speed, it must be twice as high on the speed axis. Also, since cars M and N travel at the same distance but car N has twice the speed, car N must take twice the time. Therefore, line N must be half the size of line M. Since the speeds are constant, both lines are horizontal. Reviewing the graphs, we see that the only one satisfying these conditions is graph $\boxed{\text{D}}$.

See Also

2001 AMC 8 (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 18
Followed by
Problem 20
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