SOLUTION: Ryan is rowing a small boat out to and back from an island 20 miles away at a rate of x mph. On the way to the island, he has a tailwind of 4 mph that helps speed him forward. On t

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Question 1052683: Ryan is rowing a small boat out to and back from an island 20 miles away at a rate of x mph. On the way to the island, he has a tailwind of 4 mph that helps speed him forward. On the way back, the wind has changed directions and is now a tailwind of 4 mph to speed his return trip home. If the total trip to and from the island takes Ryan 5 hours. What is Ryan's rowing speed, x?
Answer by josgarithmetic(39615) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Rowing affected by a tailwind? Tailwind changes directions when rowing in the opposite direction? Here is taking the description just as it is written, even though the "tailwind" is so small. Is the speed of x, in the absence of the tailwind? 

                SPEED            TIME           DISTANCE
OUT TO          x+4               t              20
RETURN          x+4               t              20
total                             5              40

Both directions take the same values.
2t=5
t=2%261%2F5
-
%28x%2B4%29%2A5=20
x%2B4=20%2F5
x%2B4=4
x=0--------------Ryan is just sitting in the boat, NOT rowing, and the tailwind is doing all the work.