An airplane flies 4032 miles into the wind for 14 hours. The return trip takes 9 hours. Find the speed of the airplane without a wind and the speed of the wind.

Question

math class

Answer 1

d = rt and the distances are the same. The wind speed works against the plane upwind and helps the plane downwind, of course.

 

14(a - w) = 4032

9(a + w) = 4032

 

a - w = 288

a + w = 448

2a = 736

a = 368

 

368 - w = 288

w = 80

 

The speed of the airplane was 368 mph and the wind, 80 mph.