A boat traveled 336 miles downstream and back.The trip downstream took 12 hours. The trip back took 14 hrs.What is the speed of the boat in still water ? What is the speed of the current ?

Question

It belongs to system of equations.

Answer 1

let b = the speed of the boat in still water and c = the speed of the current. now we have;

during the trip downstream b + c = 336 / 12 = 28  --->>>  b+c = 28 mph (1)

during the trip back b - c = 336 / 14 = 24  --->>>  b - c = 24 mph (2)

(1) + (2) = 2b = 52   so  b=52/2   --->>>  b=26 mph   (1)-(2) = 2c = 4  c=4/2   c = 2 mph = current speed

speed of boat in still water;  from (1) we get b=28-2=26 mph speed in still water

of caurse the same result if we take the (2)  we get  b-c=24 -->>  b=24+2=26 mph = speed in still water