Kaitt L.
asked • 05/03/21A plane traveled 1496 miles to Baltimore and back. The trip there was with the wind. It took 11 hours. The trip back was into the wind. The trip back took 17 hours. Find the speed of the plane in still air and the speed of the wind.
How do I solve this using linear equation? I'm very confused.
Thank you for whoever is going to help me with it.
Diogenes F. answered • 05/03/21
Advanced Physics and Mathematics Tutor
Since you know it took 11hr when the plane was traveling with the wind and 17hr when it was against it, you know that:
( vPlane+ vWind ) * (11hr) = 748mi
(vPlane - vWind ) * (17hr) = 748mi
Which allows one to solve:
2*11*17hr vPlane = 748mi * (17+11) ---> vPlane = 56mi/hr
2*11*17hr vWind = 748mi * ( 17-11 ) ---> vWind = 12mi/hr
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Diogenes F.
Although perhaps I misunderstood the distances and you meant that each trip was 1496mi? The speed seems quite low, if the total distance traveled was 2*1496mi=2992mi then the speeds are double what I have here.05/03/21