SOLUTION: You travel from San Francisco to New York City (NYC) by air, a distance of about 4,950 kilometers. On your way to NYC it took 5.5 hours because of the headwind and on your way back
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Question 1120576: You travel from San Francisco to New York City (NYC) by air, a distance of about 4,950 kilometers. On your way to NYC it took 5.5 hours because of the headwind and on your way back to San Francisco it took 5 hours because of the tailwind. What is the speed of the plane and what is the speed of the wind?
Note: Assume that x is the speed of the plane and y is the speed of the wind. Answer by ikleyn(52787) (Show Source):
= 990 = x + y (1) is the effective speed with the wind.
= 900 = x - y (2) is the effective speed against the wind.
Add the equations (1) and (2) to get
2x = 990 + 900 = 1890 ====> x = 1890/2 = 945.
Then y = 990 - x = 990 - 945 = 45.
Answer. The plane speed is 945 kilometers per hour and the wind speed is 45 kilometers per hour.
It is a typical "tailwind and headwind" word problem.
