okay, so the current in a river is 2 miles per hour. A small boat can travel 32 miles upstream and then 24 miles downstream in a total time of 6 hours. find the speed of the boat in still water.

Question

okay, so the current in a river is 2 miles per hour. A small boat can travel 32 miles upstream and then 24 miles downstream in a total  time of 6 hours. find the speed of the boat in still water.

anonymous · Answer

upstream velocity = velocity of boat(unknown)-velocity of stream
down stream = velocity of boat + velocity of stream
time = distance/ speed
form quadratic eqn  and solve

anonymous · Answer

time = distance/rate
Solve the following for r, the rate (speed in still water)$$\frac{32}{r-2}+\frac{32}{r+2}= 6$$

anonymous · Answer

$$r = \frac{2}{3} \left(8+\sqrt{73}\right) =11.03 \text { mph} $$

anonymous · Answer

Thank you for the medal.

By the way, it was a surprise that, if this was a school problem, x had a radical in it's expression.