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42 votes
42 votes
A plane travelled 750 miles with a tailwind in 2 hours. The return trip into the headwind took

45 more minutes than the first trip.. How fast was the plane flying?

User Dave Adelson
by
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1 Answer

22 votes
22 votes

Answer:

about 323.9 mph

Explanation:

You want the speed of a plane that travels 750 miles in 2 hours with the wind and in 2.75 hours against the wind.

Speed

The relation between time, distance, and speed is ...

speed = distance/time

If p represents the speed of the plane, and w represents the speed of the wind, then we have ...

p +w = 750/2 . . . . . . miles/hour with the wind

p -w = 750/2.75 . . . . speed against the wind

Solution

Adding these two equations gives ...

2p = 750(1/2 +1/2.75) = 750(4.75/5.50)

Dividing by 2, we have ...

p = 375(19/22) ≈ 323.9 . . . . . miles per hour

The plane was flying about 323.9 miles per hour.

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Additional comment

The wind speed was about 51.1 miles per hour.

User Gennady
by
2.9k points