Question

At maximum speed, an airplane travels

Let x be the maximum speed of the plane and y
2100 miles against the wind in 6 hours.
be the speed of the wind. What is the speed of
Flying with the wind, the plane can
the plane with no wind?
travel the same distance in 4 hours.
Enter the correct answer.

Answer 1

Plane's air speed is 437.5 mph
Wind velocity is 87.5 mph
An actual question hasn't been asked, but an
educated guess would be to determine the
plane's airspeed or the wind velocity. So I'll
calculate those values for you.
When traveling with the wind, the combined
speed is 2100/4 = 525 mph.
When traveling against the wind, the combined
speed is 2100/6 = 350 mph.
So we can create 2 equations with 2 unknowns.
They are:
a- b= 350
a+ b= 525
Let's add the two equations together.
a-b=350
a+ b= 525
2a = 875
a = 437.5
So the plane's speed in still air is 437.5 mph.
Let's calculate the wind velocity.
at b= 525
437.5 + b= 525
b= 87.5
And the wind velocity is 87.5 mph