SOLUTION: Two sailboats are 9.8 miles apart and sailing toward each other. The larger boat sails 4 miles per hour faster than the smaller boat. The two boats pass each other after 0.7 hour.

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Question 659054: Two sailboats are 9.8 miles apart and sailing toward each other. The larger boat sails 4 miles per hour faster than the smaller boat. The two boats pass each other after 0.7 hour. Find the speed of each boat.
Answer by josmiceli(19441) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
You can think of one boat as standing
still and the other approaching at the
sum of their speeds.
Let +s+ = the speed of the smaller boat
+s+%2B+4+ = the speed of the larger boat
-------------
+9.8+=+%28+s+%2B+s+%2B+4+%29%2A.7+
+9.8+=+1.4s++%2B+2.8+
+1.4s+=+7+
+s+=+5+
+s+%2B+4+=+9+
The speed of the smaller boat is 5 mi/hr
The speed of the larger boat is 9 mi/hr