Alicia went on a steamboat ride up the Mississippi River. The boat travels 20 miles per hour in still water. How long will it take her to travel 60 miles upstream if the current of the river is 8 miles per hour?
So since it is traveling 20 mph, but the current is going 8mph, the difference is 12mph that the boat is really traveling. 60mph / 12mph = 60/12 = 5 hours to get up the river.
To find out how long it will take Alicia to travel 60 miles upstream, we need to consider the speed of the boat and the speed of the current.
1. First, let's determine the effective speed of the boat when traveling upstream (against the current). The boat's speed in still water is 20 miles per hour, and the current of the river is 8 miles per hour. Since the boat is traveling against the current, we subtract the speed of the current from the speed of the boat: 20 - 8 = 12 miles per hour.
2. Now, we can calculate the time it will take for Alicia to travel 60 miles upstream. Time (T) is equal to the distance (D) divided by the speed (S): T = D / S. In this case, D = 60 miles and S = 12 miles per hour. Plugging in these values, we get: T = 60 / 12 = 5 hours.
So, it will take Alicia 5 hours to travel 60 miles upstream.