The airspeed of a plane is its speed in the absence of wind. With a headwind, ground speed (the actual speed in relation to the ground) is decreased by the speed of the wind. With a tailwind, ground speed is increased by the speed of the wind. Let A denote the airspeed of a plane and W the speed of the wind, both in miles per hour. Suppose it takes the plane 9 hours to travel the 720 miles from one town to another facing a headwind of W. The return trip, now with a tailwind of W, takes only 3 hours. (a) Express the ground speed on the trip out in terms of A and W. (b) Use the information from part (a) and the fact that distance equals rate times time to find an equation involving A and W for the trip out.   (c) Express the ground speed on the return trip in terms of A and W

Algebra & Trigonometry with Analytic Geometry
13th Edition
ISBN:9781133382119
Author:Swokowski
Publisher:Swokowski
Chapter7: Analytic Trigonometry
Section7.6: The Inverse Trigonometric Functions
Problem 94E
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The airspeed of a plane is its speed in the absence of wind. With a headwind, ground speed (the actual speed in relation to the ground) is decreased by the speed of the wind. With a tailwind, ground speed is increased by the speed of the wind. Let A denote the airspeed of a plane and W the speed of the wind, both in miles per hour. Suppose it takes the plane 9 hours to travel the 720 miles from one town to another facing a headwind of W. The return trip, now with a tailwind of W, takes only 3 hours.

(a) Express the ground speed on the trip out in terms of A and W.

(b) Use the information from part (a) and the fact that distance equals rate times time to find an equation involving A and W for the trip out.
 
(c) Express the ground speed on the return trip in terms of A and W.

(d) Use the information from part (c) and the fact that distance equals rate times time to find an equation involving A and W for the return trip.
 
(e) Find the airspeed and the speed of the wind.
A = ______
W = ______

 

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