An airplane flying into a headwind travels the 1920mile flyi
An airplane flying into a headwind travels the 1920-mile flying distance between two cities in 3 hours. On the return flight, the airplane travels this distance in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Find the airspeed of the plane and the speed of the wind, assuming that both remain constant.
Solution
let x=speed of plane
 let c=speed of wind
 x-c =net speed into wind
 x+c=net speed with wind
 speed*travel time=distance
 2 hrs and 30 min=2.5 hrs
 ..
 (x-c)*3=1920
 (x+c)*2.5=1920
3x-3c=1920
2.5x+2.5c=1920
multiply first equation by 2.5 and second equation by 3 we get
 7.5x-7.5c=4800
 7.5x+7.5c=5760 add equations to eliminate c
 15x=10560
 x=10560/15=704 mph
 ..
 3c=3x-1920=3*704-1920=192
 c=192/3=64 mph
speed of plane=704 mph
 speed of wind=64 mph

