A plane traveled 400 miles to London and back.

Question

A plane traveled 400 miles to London and back. The trip there was with the wind. It took 4

hours. The trip back was into the wind. The trip back took 5 hours. Find the speed of the plane

in still air and the speed of the wind.

Answer 1

To find the speed of the plane we use the formula: distance / time

(This is the formula to find the speed of anything)

For the plane in still air, we would get:

distance / time = 400 miles / 4 hours

Simplify this answer by dividing both numerator and denominator by 4 to get

100 miles per hour

For the plane in the wind, we would get:

distance / time = 400 miles / 5 hours

Simplify this answer by dividing both numerator and denominator by 5 to get

80 miles per hour

Answer 2

400 = 4(p + w)

400 = 5(p - w)

Can yo solve the system and answer?