SOLUTION: it takes a botat 2 hours to travel 20 miles down a river and 3 hours to return upstream to its starting point. what is the rate of the current in the river

Question 562223: it takes a botat 2 hours to travel 20 miles down a river and 3 hours to return upstream to its starting point. what is the rate of the current in the river
Answer by stanbon(75887) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
it takes a boat 2 hours to travel 20 miles down a river and 3 hours to return upstream to its starting point. what is the rate of the current in the river
---------------------
Down River DATA:
dist = 20 miles ; time = 2 hrs ; rate = d/t = 10 mph
-------
Up River DATA:
dist = 20 miles : time = 3 hrs ; rate = d/t = 20/3 mph
---------
Equation:
b + c = 10 mph
b - c = 20/3 mph
------
2b = (10 + 20/3) = (50/3)
---
b = 25/3 mph (speed of the boat in still water)
----
Solve for "c":
b + c = 10
(25/3) + c = (30/3)
----
c = 5/3 = 1 2/3 mph (speed of the current)
================================================
Cheers,
Stan H.
=============

RELATED QUESTIONS
It takes a boat 4 hours to travel 24 miles down a river and 6 hours to return upstream to (answered by checkley77)

A penguin swimming with the ocean current in search of food takes 1 hour to travel 9... (answered by checkley77)

A boat running at its' top speed takes 3.0 hours to travel 12 km down a river. It then... (answered by Alan3354)

The current of a river is 2 miles per hour. It takes a motorboat a total of 3 hours to... (answered by amoresroy)

The current of a river is 2 miles per hour. It takes a motorboat a total of 3 hours to... (answered by Boreal,josmiceli,MathTherapy)

the current of a river is 3 miles/hour. it takes a motorboat a total of 3 hours to travel (answered by lwsshak3)

It takes a boat 4 hours to travel 56 miles down a river, and 3 hours longer to make the... (answered by rmromero)

a penguin swimming with the ocean current in search of food takes 1 hour to travel 9... (answered by jim_thompson5910)

#1: The speed of a stream is 6mph If a boat travels 54 miles downstream in the same... (answered by ewatrrr)