River Boats Problem

Question

A cruise ship travels at 27 miles per hour in still water. The speed of the current is 5 miles per hour. How long does it take the ship to travel 160 miles downstream?

Answer 1

The speed of the cruise ship is 27 mph and the river is traveling at 5 mph so the actual speed of the ship relative to the stationary shore is 27 + 5 = 32 mph. Time is calculated as distance/speed so time = 160/32 = 5 hours.