Problema Solution
It takes Santa 5 minutes to fly 35 miles with the wind. It takes him 7 minutes to go 35 miles against the wind. Determine the speed of Santa's sleigh in still air (x) and the speed of the wind (y).
Answer provided by our tutors
Let 'y' stand for the speed of the wind and 'x' stand for the speed of Santa. We will use the general equation (distance)=(rate)(time) to write two equations from the given information:
With the wind:
35=(x+y)(5)
Against the wind:
35=(x-y)(7)
Now we have two equations and two unknowns so we can solve for x and y. We get:
x=6 miles/min
y=1 miles/min