Problema Solution

A high school student in Toronto, Canada, attends the University of Central Florida. On the way to UCF he took a southern route. After graduation he returned to Seattle via a northern trip. On both trips he had the same average speed. If the southern trek took 47 hours, the northern trek took 52 hours, the northern trek was 305 miles longer, how long was each trip?

Answer provided by our tutors

Equations for this problem, 'n' for norther trek, 's' for southern trek, 's' for average speed:


s = n + 305

n/47 = v

s/52 = v

this means

n = 47v

s = 52v


s = n + 305

by substitution, this equation becomes

52v = 47v + 305

5v = 305

v = 61


the average speed was 61mph