SOLUTION: A plane flies 720 miles against a steady 30 mile per hour headwind and then returns to the same point with the wind. If the entire trip takes 10 hours, what is the plane's speed in

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Question 42301This question is from textbook Beginning Algebra
: A plane flies 720 miles against a steady 30 mile per hour headwind and then returns to the same point with the wind. If the entire trip takes 10 hours, what is the plane's speed in still air?
I worked on this for two hours last night and I couldn't figure out how to get the time for each trip, because they're not constant numbers, they're t and 10-t, and the rate is r-30 and r+30, but how do I solve if I have two unknown values? I tried adding the equations to eliminate a variable, but I couldn't seem to do that either. Help!! This question is from textbook Beginning Algebra

Answer by fractalier(6550) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Yes, I posted this one a few days ago...you can scroll thru my solutions...the answer is 150 mph, the wind is 30...you can do it by setting up two equations involving r and t, remembering, of course, that rt = d.