SOLUTION: . The steamboat traveled down the Ohio River at 22 mph and upstream at 14 mph. What was the steamboat's upstream travel time if it was 4 hours more than the time required to travel
Question 1208871: . The steamboat traveled down the Ohio River at 22 mph and upstream at 14 mph. What was the steamboat's upstream travel time if it was 4 hours more than the time required to travel the same distance downstream? Answer by greenestamps(13216) (Show Source):
Let x be the number of hours for the downstream trip
then x+4 is the number of hours for the upstream trip
The distances -- x hours at 22 mph and (x+4) hours at 14 mph -- are the same:
22x = 14(x+4)
22x = 14x+56
8x = 56
x = 7
The boat's upstream travel time is x+4 = 11 hours.
ANSWER: 11 hours
Or....
Very informally....
The ratio of the two speeds is 22:14 = 11:7. Since the distances are the same, the ratio of times at the two speeds is 11:7.
The upstream travel time is 4 hours more than the downstream travel time. 11 is 4 more than 7, so the downstream travel time is 7 hours and the upstream travel time is 11 hours.
