SOLUTION: Julie and Eric row their boat (at a constant speed) 45 miles downstream for 5 hours, helped by the current. Rowing at the same rate, the trip back against the current takes 9 hours
Algebra ->
Human-and-algebraic-language
-> SOLUTION: Julie and Eric row their boat (at a constant speed) 45 miles downstream for 5 hours, helped by the current. Rowing at the same rate, the trip back against the current takes 9 hours
Log On
Question 169265: Julie and Eric row their boat (at a constant speed) 45 miles downstream for 5 hours, helped by the current. Rowing at the same rate, the trip back against the current takes 9 hours. Find the rate of the current. Answer by josmiceli(19441) (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! Let the current be
Let the rate of the boat with no current be
With the current:
Against the current:
-------------------
Given:
Rewriting these,
Multiply the 1st by and the 2nd by
Add these equations
Divide both sides by
Substitute this back into a given equation
The rate of the current is 2 mi/hr
check:
------------
OK
