Travel Time
A company president flew 680 miles one way in the corporate jet but returned in a smaller plane that could fly only half as fast. If the total travel time was 6 hours, find the speeds of the planes.
how would I set up this problem?
thank you
would you take the 170 and multiply it by 2 to get the answer?
yes
To set up this problem, you need to use the formula:
Distance = Speed x Time
Let's denote the speed of the corporate jet as V1 and the speed of the smaller plane as V2. We're given that the distance flown one way is 680 miles, so we can write the equation:
680 = V1 x T1
Here, T1 represents the time taken by the corporate jet for the outbound trip.
For the return trip, we know that the smaller plane can only fly half as fast as the corporate jet. Therefore, the speed of the smaller plane is V2 = V1/2.
The distance covered during the return trip is also 680 miles, so we can write:
680 = V2 x T2
Here, T2 represents the time taken by the smaller plane for the return trip.
We're given that the total travel time is 6 hours. So, we can write the equation:
T1 + T2 = 6
Now, we have three equations and three unknowns (V1, V2, and T2). You can solve this system of equations to find the speeds of the planes.
low speed = s
then high speed = 2s
time at low speed = 680/s
time at high speed = 680/2s = 340/s
so
680/s + 340/s = 6
1020 = 6 s
s = 170
2s =