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A riverboat travels 56 km downstream in 2 hours. It travels 66 km upstream in 3 hours. Find the speed of the boat and the speed of the stream.

User Daker
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1 Answer

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Answer: Speed of boat = 25 km/h

speed of stream = 3 km/h

Step-by-step explanation:

Let x represent the speed of the boat

Let y represent the speed of the stream

Considering downstream,

From the information given, the riverboat travels 56 km downstream in 2 hours. The speed of the river boat while travelling downstream is increased by the stream speed. Thus,

downstream speed = x + y

Distance = speed x time

56 = 2(x + y)

dividing both sides by 2, it becomes

28 = x + y equation 1

Considering upstream,

From the information given, the riverboat travels 66 km upstream in 3 hours. The speed of the river boat while travelling upstream is decreased by the stream speed. Thus,

upstream speed = x - y

66 = 3(x - y)

dividing both sides by 3, it becomes

22 = x - y equation 2

By adding equation 1 and 2, we have

28 + 22 = x + x + y - y

50 = 2x

x = 50/2

x = 25

From equation 1, y = 28 - x

y = 28 - 25

y = 3

Speed of boat = 25 km/h

speed of stream = 3 km/h

User Vladi Feldman
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