Question

an airplane took 2.5 hours to fly 625 miles with the wind. It took 4 hours and 10 minutes to make the return trip against the same wind. Find the wind speed of the plane in still air

Answer 1

The wind speed of the plane in still air is 50m/h

Step-by-step explanation:

Let p = plane speed in the air

Let w = wind speed.

since
`d = rt`, we can;

`625= 2.5(p+w) .............................. eqn1\\\\625 = 4 (1)/(6)(p-w)........................... eqn2`

(Eqn1) can be simplified further into
`250= p+w`

In (Eqn2), multiply both sides with the reciprocal of
`4(1)/(6)` which gives us
`(6)/(25)`

So we have;

p - w = 150

p + w = 250

2p = 400

p = 200

Put p (200) into p - w = 150;

200 - w = 150

w = 50

Therefore,

The speed of the plane in still air is 200m/h,

The wind speed is 50m/h.