trouble with this problem also "Catherine is camping along a river. it takes her 1.5 hours to paddle her canoe 6 miles upstream from her campsite. Catherine turns her canoe around and returns 6 miles downstream to her campsite in exactly 1 hour. what is the rate of the rivers current and the rate of Catherine's paddling in still water?"

Question

lgbasallote · Answer

All you need to know is:
downstream = speed of boat + speed of current
upstream = speed of boat - speed of current

Therefore...
let x = speed of boat
y = speed of current

DOWNSTREAM:
6mph = x + y
UPSTREAM:
4 mph = x -y

Systems of Linear Equations....

x + y = 6
x - y = 4

2x = 10
x = 5

The speed of the boat is 5 mph...The speed of the current is 1 mph.

mertsj · Answer

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