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28 votes
28 votes
A fisherman can row upstream at 1 mph and downstream at 4 mph. He started rowing upstream until he got tired and then rowed downstream to his starting point. How far did the fisherman row off the entire trip took 5 hours?

User Hudon
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1 Answer

20 votes
20 votes

Final answer:

The fisherman rowed a total distance of 20/3 miles during the entire trip.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine how far the fisherman rowed during the entire trip, we need to consider the time he spent rowing in each direction. Let's assume that the distance he rowed upstream is x miles. Since he was rowing at a speed of 1 mph, it took him x hours to row upstream. This means that the distance downstream would also be x miles, as he rowed at a speed of 4 mph in that direction. Since the total trip took 5 hours, he spent 5 - x hours rowing downstream. To calculate the total distance, we add the distance upstream and downstream:

Total distance = distance upstream + distance downstream = x miles + x miles = 2x miles

Now, let's solve for x by setting up an equation using the time spent for each leg of the trip:

Time to row upstream = Distance upstream / Speed upstream = x / 1 = x hours

Time to row downstream = Distance downstream / Speed downstream = x / 4 = 5 - x hours

By solving the equation: x / 4 = 5 - x, we find x = 10/3. Plugging this value back into the equation for the total distance, we get:

Total distance = 2 * x = 2 * (10/3) = 20/3 miles

User Renne
by
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