Question 785154
An airplane flying with the wind took 3 hrs to cover a distance of
 600 miles and 6 hrs to return flying against the same wind.
 Find the speed of the plane and the velocity of the wind.
:
let s = the speed of the plane in still air
let w = the speed of the wind
Then
(s+w) = the ground speed with the wind
(s-w) = ground speed against the wind
:
Write a distance equation for each way
3(s+w) = 600
6(s-w) = 600
Simplify, divide the 1st eq by 3, the 2nd eq by 6
s + w = 200
s - w = 100
---------------Adding eliminates w, find s
2s = 300
s = 300/2
s = 150 mph speed of the plane
:
150 + w = 200
w = 200 - 150
w = 50 mph speed of the wind
:
:
You can check the solutions in the original equations