Problema Solution

A B747 aircraft flew six hours with the wind. The return trip took seven hours against the wind. If the speed of the plane in still air is thirteen times the speed of the wind, find the wind speed and the speed of the plane in still air?

Answer provided by our tutors

let


p = the aircraft's speed in still air

w = the speed of the wind

t1 = 6 hour with the wind

t2 = 7 hours against the wind


the speed of the plane traveling against the wind is: p - w

the speed of the plane traveling with the wind is: p + w


the speed of the plane in still air is thirteen times the speed of the wind


p = 13w


since speed = distance/time => distance = speed*time


traveling with the wind


d = (p + w)t1


traveling against the wind


d = (p - w)t2


so we can write


(p + w)t1 = (p - w)t2


(p + w)6 = (p - w)7


6p + 6w = 7p - 7w


p = 13 w


again we get the same equation as above and we can only conclude that is the speed of the wind is w then the speed of the plane in still air is 13w.


It is possible that some data is missing in the text of the problem.