Problema Solution
A West to East round-trip flight takes 2 hours and 5 minutes flying time. The distance traveled is 1000 miles over the round-trip. Assume head and tail winds are the same and the air speed of the aircraft is 500 mph. Calculate the speed of the wind.
Answer provided by our tutors
Let
v = 500 mph the air speed of the aircraft
w = the speed of the wind, w>0
d = 1000 mi the distance traveled
t = 2 hr 5 min = 2 + 5/60 hr
Since speed = distance/time we have time = distance/speed
(d/2)/(v + w) + (d/2)/(v - w) = t
(1000/2)/(500 + w) + (1000/2)/(500 - w) = 2 + 5/60
........
........
w = 100 mph
The speed of the wind is 100 mph.