Explanation
Let the distance between the police officer's house and office be D km.
Let the actual time required to reach the office on time be T hours.
Step 1: Forming Equations
Using the speed-time formula:
Time=Distance/Speed
Case 1: Walking at 4 km/h
D/4=T+5/60
(since he is 5 minutes late, which is 5/60 hours)
Case 2: Walking at 5 km/h
D5=T−10/60
(since he is 10 minutes early, which is 10/60 hours)
Step 2: Solving for Distance
From the first equation:
T=D/4−5/60
From the second equation:
T=D/5+10/60
Equating both expressions for T:
D/4−5/60=D/5+10/60
Multiply everything by 60 to clear the fractions:
60×(D/4−5/60)=60×(D/5+10/60)
15D−5=12D+10
15D−12D=10+53D=15
D=5 km