Problema Solution
Matt and Anna Killian are frequent fliers on Fast-n-Go Airlines. They often fly between two cities that are a distance of 800 miles apart. On one particular trip, they flew into the wind and the trip took 2.5 hours. The return trip with the wind behind them, only took about 2 hours. Find the speed of the wind and the speed of the plane in still air.
Answer provided by our tutors
distance = speed * time
both legs of the trip are 800 miles, let 'x' represent the speed of the plane in still air and 'w' represent the speed of the wind, then 'x+w' represents the speed with the wind and 'x-w' represents the speed into the wind
800 = (x-w)2.5
800 = (x+w)2
solving this system we have:
w=40
x=360
the speed of the wind is 40mph, the speed of the plain in still air is 360mph