Question

Rick's spaceship flies through the air at 900 mph. On a trip from Seattle to Washington DC and back, he can travel 206 miles there in the same time as it takes to go 154 miles on the way back. How fast is the jet stream?

a) 100 mph
b) 150 mph
c) 200 mph
d) 250 mph

Answer 1

The speed of the jet stream is 130 mph.None of the provided options is correct.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine the speed of the jet stream, we can set up a time and distance equation.

Let’s assume Rick's spaceship flies at a speed of 900 mph.

On the way from Seattle to Washington DC, Rick travels a distance of 206 miles.

The time taken to travel this distance is the same as the time taken to travel 154 miles on the way back.

Let's denote the speed of the jet stream as x mph.

The time taken to travel a certain distance is given by the formula: Time = Distance / Speed. Using this formula, we can set up the following equation:

206 / (900 + x) = 154 / (900 - x)

To solve for x, we can cross-multiply and simplify the equation:

1. 206 * (900 - x) = 154 * (900 + x)
2. 185,400 - 206x = 138,600 + 154x
3. 360x = 46,800
4. x = 130 mph

Therefore, the speed of the jet stream is 130 mph.