Krystal left the hardware store and traveled toward the recycling plant at an average speed of 61 mph. Scott left at the same time and traveled in the opposite direction with an average speed of 65 mph. Find the number of hours Scott needs to travel before they are 252 mi. Apart

Since Krystal and Scott is heading on opposite directions, therefore the distance between the two would be the sum of their distances from where they left, so:

total distance (d) = distance covered by Krystal (dK) + distance covered by Scott (dS)

d = dK + dS

We know that the formula for distance is:

distance = velocity * time

So,

d = vK * t + vS * t

where

vK = velocity of Krystal = 61 mph

vS = velocity of Scott = 65 mph

d = 252 miles

Therefore:

252 = 61 t + 65 t

126 t = 252

t = 2 hours

Therefore Scott needs to travel for 2 hours.