SOLUTION: A plane travels 1200 miwith the wind in 2 hr. The return trip against the wind takes 3 hr. Find the rate of the plane.

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Question 451532: A plane travels 1200 miwith the wind in 2 hr. The return trip against the wind takes 3 hr. Find the rate of the plane.
Answer by pedjajov(51) (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Distance formula is r*t=d,

- r = rate,
- t = time,
- d = distance.

When travels with the wind that has its own rate w distance is

(r+w)*t=d, wind "pushes" plane to move faster

When travels against the wind distance is

(r-w)*t=d, same distance but wind slows down the plane

Now if we plug the values we have we get

(r+w)*2=1200 -> r+w=600
(r-w)*3=1200 -> r-w=400

If we add these two equations we get:

2r=1000
r=500mi/h is a rate of the plane.

w=600-r
w=100mi/h is a rate of the wind.