The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
The correct answer is 45.845.
To determine the time it took for the fourth athlete to complete their portion of the race, we must perform a two step calculation using the information provided. The problem gives us the total time for the entire four person team and the individual times for the first three athletes. The core strategy is to find the sum of the known times and then subtract that sum from the overall total to isolate the unknown time of the final athlete. This approach allows us to work backwards from the total to find the missing piece of information.
The first step is to calculate the cumulative time of the first three team members. This is accomplished by adding their individual times together. The first athlete’s time was 46.685 seconds, the second athlete’s time was 48.869 seconds, and the third athlete’s time was 49.33 seconds. When adding these decimal numbers, it is very important to align the decimal points to ensure the calculation is accurate. The sum of 46.685, 48.869, and 49.33 is 144.884 seconds. This number, 144.884, represents the total time that had elapsed in the race after the first three athletes had completed their legs, just before the fourth athlete started.
The second and final step uses this combined time to find the fourth athlete’s individual time. We know from the problem statement that the team’s total finishing time for the entire race was 190.729 seconds. Since this grand total is the sum of the times of all four athletes, we can find the fourth person’s time by subtracting the combined time of the first three athletes from this total. The specific calculation is 190.729 seconds (the total team time) minus 144.884 seconds (the combined time of the first three). The result of this subtraction is exactly 45.845. Therefore, the fourth team member completed their leg of the team wheelchair race in 45.845 seconds, which was the final contribution to the team’s total time.
