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CMA Foundation · Fundamentals of Business Mathematics and Statistics · Time and Distance

A goods train 300 m long crosses a platform 200 m long in 25 seconds. How long will it take to cross a pole beside the track at the same speed?

The train takes 15 seconds to pass the pole. Crossing the platform means covering 500 m in 25 seconds, so its speed is 20 m/s. Passing a pole requires covering only the train's own length of 300 m, and 300 divided by 20 gives 15 seconds.

  1. A10 seconds
  2. B12 seconds
  3. C15 secondsCorrect
  4. D20 seconds

Explanation

To cross the platform, the train covers 300 + 200 = 500 m in 25 s, so speed = 20 m/s. To cross a pole it covers only its own length of 300 m: 300 ÷ 20 = 15 seconds. Taking 25 seconds scaled by 200/500 would wrongly give 10 s, as the platform length is not the whole distance.

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