Question

Susie enjoys spending her afternoons kayaking. One afternoon she was kayaking on a river 3 miles upstream, and 3 miles downstream in a total of 4 hours. In still water, Susie can Kayak at an average speed of 2 miles per hour. Based on this information, what a reasonable estimation of the current measured in miles per hour.

Answer:

Answer 1

speed of the current = (distance traveled upstream + distance traveled downstream) / (time taken)

speed of the kayak upstream = 2 - x

speed of the kayak downstream = 2 + x

(3 / (2 - x)) + (3 / (2 + x)) = 4

x ≈ 0.5

Therefore, a reasonable estimation of the current measured in miles per hour is 0.5 mph.