A policeman was asked to chase a thief. Before the policeman started the chase, he realised that the thief was 200 metres ahead of him and was running at a speed of 16 km/h. The policeman started the chase at a speed of 20 km/h. How far will the thief run before he is overtaken by the policeman?

Question

Question

This question was previously asked in

SSC CHSL Exam 2024 Tier-I Official Paper (Held On: 10 Jul, 2024 Shift 2)

Answer 1

Given:

A thief is spotted by a policeman at a distance of 200 m.

Speed of thief = 16 km/h

Speed of policeman = 20 km/h

Formula Used:

Distance = speed × time

Calculation:

Let the time taken by the policeman to catch the thief be T hours.

In this time:

Distance travelled by the thief = 16T km

Distance travelled by the policeman = 20T km

According to the question:

Distance travelled by the policeman = Distance travelled by the thief + 200 meters

Convert 200 meters to kilometers:

200 meters = 0.2 km

So:

20T = 16T + 0.2

⇒ 20T - 16T = 0.2

⇒ 4T = 0.2

⇒ T = 0.2 / 4

⇒ T = 0.05 hours

Distance travelled by the thief in this time:

Distance = 16 × 0.05

⇒ Distance = 0.8 km or 800m

The thief will run 800m before being overtaken by the policeman.