Two trains are traveling in opposite directions. One is travelling at 100 mph, and the other is travelling at 90 mph. If they start at the same point at 12 noon, in how many hours will they be 950 miles apart?
If you ask, What color are the trains? or What kind of food are they serving on the trains? either you are not taking it seriously or you are not focusing on what is important.
Many times people get caught up in the minutia or the wrong parts of the problem and cannot get anywhere. They focus on the wrong parts of the problem. This is primarily due to lack of experience solving these types of problems.? In the problem above an engineer who has experience in basic physics would solve it in about ten seconds. A psychologist who is weak in math may take longer. A seventh grader would use algebra because that is what they are learning.
However, many people do not solve problems at all and would not know how to begin.? They do not know how to set up the problem, ask the right questions, and then proceed on a path to solve it.? The key step is to focus on the right things: the goal, the clues and elements that provide meaningful starting points, and the steps on reaching that goal.
If you do not know how to solve the problem then the key question is: How do I solve this problem? This leads to: Can I find an expert on solving this problem? Now, the task is to find that expert and get it solved.
Focus on what is important: solve the problem and do not get caught up in minutia.
The answer is 5 hours.? The trains are traveling part at 190 mph. Divide 950 by 190 and you get five. All other information about the trains is irrelevant.
