A ship travels from New York to SouthamptonEngland at 33 mph

A ship travels from New York to Southampton,England at 33 mph. A plane traveling 605 mph takes 104 hours less to make the same trip. How far apart are the two cities?

Solution

We\'ll let x=amount of time it takes the ship travelliing at 33mph
then x-104=amount of time it takes the plane travelling at 605mph
we\'ll use the formula: Distance (d)=(rate(r))(time(t)) or d=rt
we know that both the ship and the plane travel the same distance which is the distance between the two cities:
rt(ship)=rt(plane)
rt of ship is 33x and
rt of plane is 605(x-104) so our equation to solve is:
33x=605(x-104)
33x=605x-62,920 simplifying we get:
-572x=-62,920
x=110 hours is the time it takes the ship
x-104=110=104=6 hours is the time it takes the plane
rt (ship)=distance between the two cities = 33(110)=3630 miles
or
rt (plane)=distance between the two cities = 605(6)=3630 miles