A swimmer can swim 1.7 mph in still water. She decides to swim upsteam against the current which is 0.7 mph. It will take the swimmer ___ hours to travel 8 miles as measured by a person standing on the river bank.
See previous post: Wed, 1-28-15, 6:19 PM.
To find the time it takes for the swimmer to travel 8 miles upstream, we need to consider the relative speed between the swimmer and the river current.
When swimming upstream, the swimmer's speed is the difference between the swimmer's swimming speed in still water and the speed of the current. In this case, the swimmer's swimming speed is 1.7 mph, and the current's speed is 0.7 mph. Therefore, the swimmer's speed upstream is 1.7 mph - 0.7 mph = 1 mph.
Now, we can calculate the time it takes for the swimmer to travel 8 miles upstream using the formula:
Time = Distance / Speed
Time = 8 miles / 1 mph
Time = 8 hours
Therefore, it will take the swimmer 8 hours to travel 8 miles upstream.