.
There are two ships travelling from dumaguete to cagayan de oro differ in average speed by 10kph. 
The slower ship takes 3 hours longer to travel a 240km route than for the faster ship 
to travel a 200km route. Find the speed of the slower ship. 
As a navigator, you are assigned to measure the speed of the slower ship.
Hint:construct an equation with time t as the variable
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Let x be the speed of the slower ship, in kilometers per hour.
It covers the distance of 240 km in    hours.
The faster ship has the speed of (x+10) km/h and covers 200 km in    hours.
We are given the time   is 3 hours longer than time .
So we write this "time" equation
         -  = 3  hours.
    +---------------------------------------------------+
    |    As soon as you got it, the setup is complete.  |
    +---------------------------------------------------+
To solve the equation, multiply both sides by common denominator x*(x+10).
You will get
    240*(x+10) - 200x = 3x*(x+10)
    240x + 2400 - 200x = 3x^2 + 30x
    3x^2 - 10x + 2400 = 0
Solve this quadratic equation using the quadratic formula
     =  =  = .
There are two roots, one is 30, the other is  = -.
We reject the negative root and accept the positive root.
So, the ANSWER is 30 km/h for the slower ship.
CHECK.  Time for the slower ship is   = 6 hours;  time for the faster ship is  = 5 hours.
           The difference of times is 8-5 = 3 hours, confirming the answer.
Solved and thoroughly explained.