SOLUTION: A plane travels at a speed of 155 mph in still air. Flying with a tailwind, the plane is clocked over a distance of 650 miles. Flying against a headwind, it takes 2 hours l

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Question 1008877: A plane travels at a speed of
155 mph in still air. Flying with a tailwind, the plane is clocked over a distance of
650 miles. Flying against a headwind, it takes
2 hours longer to complete the return trip. What was the wind velocity?
(Round
your answer to the nearest tenth.)
Answer by josgarithmetic(39617) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Initial table of data before analyzing the time quantities; w is tailwind speed.
               SPEED        TIME         DISTANCE

WITHWIND       155+w                     650
AGAINSTWD      155-w                     650


               SPEED        TIME            DISTANCE

WITHWIND       155+w        650/(155+w)      650
AGAINSTWD      155-w        650/(155-w)      650

Concentrate on the part of the description, Flying against a headwind, it takes
2 hours longer to complete the return trip.
This means highlight%28highlight_green%28650%2F%28155-w%29-650%2F%28155%2Bw%29=2%29%29.

The rest is arithmetic to solve the equation for w, the speed of the wind.