Two pedestrians simultaneously went out to meet each other from two villages and met 48 minutes later.

Two pedestrians simultaneously went out to meet each other from two villages and met 48 minutes later. The first pedestrian could have walked all the way in 72 minutes. How many minutes the second pedestrian could have covered the entire path.

Let’s take the whole path as 1, the time of the second pedestrian as x, then:

1: x = 1 / x – speed of the second pedestrian;

1: 72 = 1/72 – the speed of the first;

1: 48 = 1/48 – approach speed.

Since the speed of approach is equal to the sum of the speeds of pedestrians, we get the equation:

1 / x + 1/72 = 1/48;

1 / x = 1/48 – 1/72 = (72 – 48) / 48 * 72 = 24/3456 = 1/144;

x = 144.

Answer: The second pedestrian will take 144 minutes.