Question

14. Simon has a race track with two cars. The first car does a complete lap of the track in 32 seconds and the second does it in 21 seconds. Carlos also has his race track with two cars, but the first makes a complete lap in 36 seconds and the second in 42 seconds. Since Carlos always loses when they play, he proposes to Simón that the winner be the one who has both cars at the finish line on his track at the same time. Who will win?

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Answer to a math question 14. Simon has a race track with two cars. The first car does a complete lap of the track in 32 seconds and the second does it in 21 seconds. Carlos also has his race track with two cars, but the first makes a complete lap in 36 seconds and the second in 42 seconds. Since Carlos always loses when they play, he proposes to Simón that the winner be the one who has both cars at the finish line on his track at the same time. Who will win?

Expert avatar
Jayne
4.4
106 Answers
To determine who will win based on the criteria of having both cars at the finish line at the same time, we need to find the least common multiple (LCM) of the lap times for both sets of cars. The person whose cars meet at the finish line more frequently within a given period will be the winner.

### Simon's Cars:
- First car lap time: 32 seconds
- Second car lap time: 21 seconds

To find the LCM of 32 and 21:
1. Prime factorization:
- 32 = 2^5
- 21 = 3 \times 7

2. LCM is the product of the highest powers of all primes present:
\text{LCM}(32, 21) = 2^5 \times 3^1 \times 7^1 = 32 \times 3 \times 7 = 32 \times 21 = 672 \text{ seconds}

### Carlos's Cars:
- First car lap time: 36 seconds
- Second car lap time: 42 seconds

To find the LCM of 36 and 42:
1. Prime factorization:
- 36 = 2^2 \times 3^2
- 42 = 2^1 \times 3^1 \times 7^1

2. LCM is the product of the highest powers of all primes present:
\text{LCM}(36, 42) = 2^2 \times 3^2 \times 7^1 = 4 \times 9 \times 7 = 252 \text{ seconds}

### Comparison:
- Simon's cars will both be at the finish line together every 672 seconds.
- Carlos's cars will both be at the finish line together every 252 seconds.

Since 252 seconds is less than 672 seconds, Carlos's cars will meet at the finish line together more frequently.

### Conclusion:
Carlos will win, as his cars complete laps together every 252 seconds, which is more frequent than Simon's cars completing laps together every 672 seconds.

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