188k views
2 votes
An airplane flies 4800 miles into the wind for 15 hours. The return trip takes 10 hours. Find the speed of the airplane without a wind and the speed of the wind.

User Amaralbf
by
8.5k points

1 Answer

3 votes

Answer:

The speed of the airplane was 800 mph and the wind, 480 mph.

Explanation:

distance'd'/speed'v'=travel time't' and the distances are the same. The wind speed works against the plane upwind and helps the plane downwind, of course.

considering x=speed of airplane without wind

c=speed of wind

->Forward trip:

d/v=t

4800/(x-c)=15

320= x-c ---> eq(1)

->Return trip:

4800/(x+c)=10

480 = x+c --->eq(2)

Adding eq(1) and (2)

x-c + x+c = 320+ 480

x= 800 mph

eq(1)=> 320= x-c

c= 800 - 320

c=480mph

The speed of the airplane was 800 mph and the wind, 480 mph.

User Life Evader
by
8.1k points
Welcome to QAmmunity.org, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of our community.