A jumbo jet left an airport at the same time as a small priv

A jumbo jet left an airport at the same time as a small private plane that followed the same flight plan during the first hour of its flight. The speed of the jet was 5 times that of the small one, and at the end of the hour it was 500 mi ahead. What was the speed of the larger plane?

Solution

Let x represent the speed of the private plane. Then 5x is the speed of the jet.
|----------------------------------->----------------------------------------->
|Distance of small plane in 1 hour |
|--------------------Distance of the jumbo jet in one hour--------------------|
Therefore we can say that the distance of the jet minus the distance of the private plane equals 500 miles. Let\'s set up the equation.
5x - x = 500 Combine like terms
4x = 500 Divide both sides by 4
4x/4 = 500/4
x = 125
Let\'s check:
5(125) - 125 = 500
625 - 125 = 500
500 = 500
The speed of the private plane is 5 times the small one. 5x = 5(125) = 625
The speed of the larger plane was 625 miles/hour.
Hope it helps