Word problem

Question

A paddleboat on the Mississippi River travels 48 miles downstream, with the current, in 3 hours. The return trip, against the curren, takes 4 hour. Find the boats rate in still water and the rate of the current. 

Answer 1

We can find a rate for both the trip downstream and the trip upstream by dividing the distance by the time. We get: 

 

48mi/3hrs = 16mph

 

48mi/4hrs = 12mph 

 

If we split the difference, which is two (2), we see that the rivers current is 2mph. Given the trip down stream two more miles per hour and the trip down stream slowing down two miles per hour.