Question

It will take an hour for plane A to meet plane B which is flying in the opposite direction. If, in 45 minutes, the distance between them will be 200 miles, how far apart are they now?

Answer 1

Let a = speed of the plane A, and b = speed of plane B.

(Assume that the net effect of the wind is negligible.)

From the first sentence, the distance between A and B after each travels for 1 hour is a + b miles. From the second sentence, after 45 minutes, or 0.75 hour, the distance between A and B is 200 miles. Plane a has traveled 0.75a, while plane B has traveled 0.75b.

Hence a + b = 0.75a + 0.75b +200

==> 0.25(a + b) = 200.

==> a + b = 800.

Therefore planes A and B are 800 miles apart now.