Question

A fisherman can row upstream at 2mph and downstream at 8mph. He started rowing upstream till he got tired and the rowed downstream to his starting point. How far did the fisherman row if the entire trip took 2 hours

Answer 1

The fisherman row 6.4 miles total.

Explanation:

Let the distance from his starting point to the point he turn around is "d" miles.

Given upstream speed is 2 mph and downstream speed is 8 mph.

We now that time = distance /speed

So the time required to row "d "miles upstream = d/2 hours

The time required to row "d" miles downstream = d/8 hours.

As the entire trip took 2 hours so the equation will be :

d/2 +d/8 = 2

( 4d + d ) /8 = 2

5d = 16

d = 16/ 5 = 3.2 miles

So the fisherman rowed a total of ( 3.2 x 2 ) miles = 6.4 miles.