Find the speed of the plane in still air and the speed of the wind.

Question

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.     <!--[endif]-->With a tailwind, a plane traveled 1 010 km in 2 hours. On the return trip on the same day, with a headwind, the plane traveled the same distance in 2 1/2 hours. Find the speed of the plane in still air and the speed of the wind.

 

Answer 1

Let the speed of the plane in still air be x and speed of the wind be y.

For the first trip the situation can be formulated as:

x + y = 1010/2

or x+y = 505   ----------------(1)

And for return journey:

x - y = 1010/ (5/2)

or x - y = 404   ----------------------(2)

On adding eq(1) and (2) we get:

2x = 909

or x =454.5

and putting the value of x in eq(1) we get:

454.5 + y = 505

or y = 50.5

Therefore speed of the plane in still air is 454.5 kmph and speed of the wind is 50.5 kmph