A passenger jet travels from Los angles to Bombay, India, in 22 h. The return flight takes 17 h. The difference in flight times is caused by winds over the Pacific Ocean that blows primarily from west to east. If the jet's speed is 550 m/h, what is the speed of the wind during the round-trip flight?

70.5 mph

Explanation:

A passenger jet travels from Los Angeles to Bombay, India, in 22h.

The return flight takes 17 h.

The difference in flight times is caused by winds over the Pacific Ocean that

blow primarily from west to east.

If the jet's average speed in still air is 550 mi/h what is the average speed

of the wind during the round trip flight? Round to the nearest mile per hour.

Is your answer reasonable?

:

Let w = speed of the wind

:

Write a distance equation (dist is the same both ways

17 (550+w) = 22 (550-w)

9350 + 17w = 12100 - 22w

17w + 22w = 12100 - 9350

39w = 2750

W = 2750/39

w = 70.5 mph seems very reasonable

:

Confirming if the solution by finding the distances using these value

17 (550+70.5) = 10549 mi

22 (550-70.5) = 10549 mi; confirms our solution of w = 70.5 mph