Question: Five runners, Andy, Beth, Dale, Ella, and Tri, are in a one-mile race. Ella finished 7 second (s) before Andy. Andy finished 1 second (s) before Tri. Tri finished 5 second (s) after Dale. Dale finished 5 second (s) after Beth. In which order did the runners finish the race?
1. **State the problem:** We need to find the order in which the runners finished the race based on the given time differences.
2. **Define variables:** Let $B$ be the finishing time of Beth in seconds.
3. **Express other runners' times in terms of $B$:**
- Dale finished 5 seconds after Beth: $$D = B + 5$$
- Tri finished 5 seconds after Dale: $$T = D + 5 = B + 5 + 5 = B + 10$$
- Andy finished 1 second before Tri: $$A = T - 1 = B + 10 - 1 = B + 9$$
- Ella finished 7 seconds before Andy: $$E = A - 7 = B + 9 - 7 = B + 2$$
4. **List finishing times:**
- Beth: $B$
- Dale: $B + 5$
- Ella: $B + 2$
- Andy: $B + 9$
- Tri: $B + 10$
5. **Order runners by finishing time (lowest to highest):**
- Beth ($B$)
- Ella ($B + 2$)
- Dale ($B + 5$)
- Andy ($B + 9$)
- Tri ($B + 10$)
6. **Final answer:** The order of finish is **First: Beth, Second: Ella, Third: Dale, Fourth: Andy, Fifth: Tri**.