Flight A flight across the U.S. takes longer east to west than it does west to east. Assume that winds are constant in the eastward direction. When flying westward, the headwind decreases the airplane's speed. When flying eastward, the tailwind increases its speed. The time for a round trip shown below is
Let
Distance | Rate | Time | |
---|---|---|---|
Going west to east | 1850 |
|
|
Going east to west | 1850 |
|
|
Total time = Time west to east + Time east to west
Wind speed is positive, so
If you substitute 35 for x will the equation check exactly?
No; since 35 is an approximation it is likely that the values will be nearly equal, but probably not equal.
Check