Question 208614
Two planes left an airport at noon. One flew east at a certain speed and the
other flew west at twice the speed.The planes were 2700 mi apart in 3 h. How
fast was each plane flying?
.
You will need to apply the "distance formula":
d=rt
where
d is distance
r is rate or speed
t is time
.
Let x = speed of east bound plane
then
2x = speed of west bound plane
.
3x + 3(2x) = 2700
3x + 6x = 2700
9x = 2700
x = 300 mph (speed of east bound plane)
.
speed of west bound plane:
2x = 2(300) = 600 mph