52. A woman ran a 24-mile course. She ran the first 6 miles in 1 hour, the second set of 6 miles in 1.2 hours, the third set in 1.5 hours, and the fourth set in 1.6 hours. How long did it take her to complete the course?
Answer: A
The woman took 5.3 hours to complete the course.
To find the total time taken by the woman to run the 24-mile course, we need to add the time taken for each segment: 1 hour for the first 6 miles, 1.2 hours for the second 6 miles, 1.5 hours for the third 6 miles, and 1.6 hours for the fourth 6 miles. The sum of these times is 5.3 hours.
A) 5.3 hours
This option accurately represents the total time taken by the woman to complete the 24-mile course. By adding the times for each segment (1 + 1.2 + 1.5 + 1.6), we arrive at a total of 5.3 hours, confirming that this is the correct answer.
B) 5.4 hours
This option is incorrect as it overestimates the total time taken. The sum of the individual times does not reach 5.4 hours; therefore, this option does not accurately reflect the total time for the course.
C) 4 hours
This option is incorrect as it underestimates the total time taken. The total of the individual segments clearly exceeds 4 hours, making this option an inaccurate representation of the time taken to complete the course.
D) 5 hours
This option is also incorrect because it does not account for the complete total of the segments. The actual total time of 5.3 hours is greater than 5 hours, indicating that this option fails to reflect the correct total time.
Conclusion
The correct answer, 5.3 hours, is derived from the accurate summation of the times for each segment of the run. All other options either underestimate or overestimate this total, demonstrating a misunderstanding of the time calculation involved in the problem. Thus, A is the only option that correctly reflects the total time taken to complete the course.