This seemingly-easy reference problem is making me crazy

[prelic]

This seemingly-easy reference problem is making me crazy!

The airport terminal has a moving sidewalk to speed passengers through a long corridor. Larry does not use the moving sidewalk. He takes 145 s to walk through the corridor. Curly, who simply stands on the moving sidewalk, covers the same distance in 60 s. Moe boards the sidewalk and walks along it. How long does Moe take to move through the corridor? Assume that Larry and Moe walk at the same speed.



I'm not asking you to do this for me, I just have no idea what to do. They are both constant velocities, meaning no acceleration, so I don't have to worry about any of that. They both move at a constant velocity, so when someone walks on a moving sidewalk, their velocity should be the sum of their walking speed + the sidewalk speed. I have no idea how to figure out their velocities. I tried using d=vt, and since the distance is the same, i tried setting them equal to each other, but ill have 2 unknowns (the 2 velocities). I can't use any other equations because I don't know the distance. GAH

 

[rewebster]

try drawing a picture (a pictorial visualization)

 

[learningphysics]

You have the right approach... you just need to take the final step. So you have 1 speed v1 (larry and moe's speed)... and v2 (the moving sidewalk's speed).

What equations can you write using v1 and v2?

 

[prelic]

figured it out, thanks.