With a tailwind, a plane flew the 3000km from Calgary to Montreal in 5 hours. The return flight, against the wind, took 6 hours. Find the wind speed and the speed of the plane.
Q. With a tailwind, a plane flew the 3000km from Calgary to Montreal in 5 hours. The return flight, against the wind, took 6 hours. Find the wind speed and the speed of the plane.
Define speeds: Let's define the speed of the plane as p km/h and the speed of the wind as w km/h. The effective speed of the plane with the tailwind is (p+w) km/h, and against the wind, it is (p−w) km/h.
Set up equations: Using the formula distance=speed×time, we can set up the equations for the flights. For the flight from Calgary to Montreal, the equation is 3000=(p+w)×5.
Flight to Montreal: Simplifying the equation from the previous step, we get p+w=600.
Return flight: For the return flight against the wind, the equation is 3000=(p−w)×6.
Solve equations: Simplifying this equation, we get p−w=500.
Find speed: Now, we have two equations:1. p+w=6002. p−w=500We can solve these equations by adding them together.
Substitute and solve: Adding the equations, we get 2p=1100. Solving for p, we find p=550km/h.
Substitute and solve: Adding the equations, we get 2p=1100. Solving for p, we find p=550km/h. Substituting p=550km/h back into the equation p+w=600, we solve for w: 550+w=600w=50km/h.
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