Question

a tugboat goes 140 miles upstream in 10 hours. the return trip downstream takes 5 hours. find the speed of the tugboat without a current and the speed of the current

Answer 1

let the speed of the boat be x and speed of the current be y
Downstream means the current will assist the boat,which means their speeds get added so using the equation speed*time=distance
(x+y)*5=140------>(1)
Upstream means the current will resist the boat,which means their speeds get subtracted so using the equation speed*time=distance
(x-y)*10=140------>(2)
Now can u solve these two equations??and find both speeds?

Answer 2

so i do 140+5*5?

Answer 3

no,1st u find x+y by dividing 5 on both sides of equation 1
then u find x-y by dividing 10 on both sides of equation 2
then add both of those equation.and u will get 2x...from that u will get x

Answer 4

i still dont understand. how am i suppose to divide 5 if there are no numbers to divide it by

Answer 5

do it like this:
to get x+y=28
got this??