A boat on a river travels 20 miles downstream in only 2 hours. It takes the same boat 6 hours to travel 12 miles upstream. What are the speed of the boat and speed of the current?
When traveling downstream speed = boat + current = 20miles in 2 hours = 10miles/hour
When traveling upstream speed = boat - current = 12miles in 6 hours = 2miles/hour
so we have 2 equations which must be solved simultaneously.
B+C=10
B-C=2
add and we get
2B=12
B=6
subtract and we get
2C=8
c=4
So the boat is traveling at 6 miles per hour and the current is traveling at 4 miles/hour.
When traveling downstream speed = boat + current = 20miles in 2 hours = 10miles/hour
When traveling upstream speed = boat - current = 12miles in 6 hours = 2miles/hour
so we have 2 equations which must be solved simultaneously.
B+C=10
B-C=2
add and we get
2B=12
B=6
subtract and we get
2C=8
c=4
So the boat is traveling at 6 miles per hour and the current is traveling at 4 miles/hour.