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    River Cruise

    Uploaded by

    tilaaa
    The document summarizes a word problem about a river cruise that travels 15 km upstream and back downstream over 3 hours. It uses algebra to represent the boat speed x and relative land speeds v upstream and downstream. Equating the total time to the sum of upstream and downstream times yields a quadratic equation. Solving this equation gives the boat speed as 10.39 km/h. From this the upstream time is calculated as 1 hour 47 minutes.

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    River Cruise

    Uploaded by

    tilaaa
    11 views2 pages
    The document summarizes a word problem about a river cruise that travels 15 km upstream and back downstream over 3 hours. It uses algebra to represent the boat speed x and relative land speeds v upstream and downstream. Equating the total time to the sum of upstream and downstream times yields a quadratic equation. Solving this equation gives the boat speed as 10.39 km/h. From this the upstream time is calculated as 1 hour 47 minutes.

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    The document summarizes a word problem about a river cruise that travels 15 km upstream and back downstream over 3 hours. It uses algebra to represent the boat speed x and relative land speeds v upstream and downstream. Equating the total time to the sum of upstream and downstream times yields a quadratic equation. Solving this equation gives the boat speed as 10.39 km/h. From this the upstream time is calculated as 1 hour 47 minutes.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    11 views2 pages

    River Cruise

    Uploaded by

    tilaaa
    The document summarizes a word problem about a river cruise that travels 15 km upstream and back downstream over 3 hours. It uses algebra to represent the boat speed x and relative land speeds v upstream and downstream. Equating the total time to the sum of upstream and downstream times yields a quadratic equation. Solving this equation gives the boat speed as 10.39 km/h. From this the upstream time is calculated as 1 hour 47 minutes.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    Example: River Cruise

    A 3 hour river cruise goes 15 km upstream and then back again. The river
    has a current of 2 km an hour. What is the boat's speed and how long was
    the upstream journey?
    There are two speeds to think about: the speed the boat makes
    in the water, and the speed relative to the land:

    Let x = the boat's speed in the water (km/h)

    Let v = the speed relative to the land (km/h)

    Because the river flows downstream at 2 km/h:

    when going upstream, v = x-2 (its speed is reduced by


    2 km/h)

    when going downstream, v = x+2 (its speed is


    increased by 2 km/h)

    We can turn those speeds into times using:

    time = distance / speed


    (if you travel 8 km at 4 km/h it would take 8/4 = 2 hours,
    right?)

    And we know the total time is 3 hours:

    total time = time upstream + time downstream = 3 hours


    Put all that together:

    total time = 15/(x-2) + 15/(x+2) = 3 hours


    Now we use our algebra skills to solve for "x".
    First, get rid of the fractions by multiplying through by (x-2)(x+2):

    3(x-2)(x+2) = 15(x+2) + 15(x-2)


    Expand everything:

    3(x2-4) = 15x+30 + 15x-30

    Bring everything to the left and simplify:

    3x2 - 30x - 12 = 0
    It is a Quadratic Equation! Let us solve it using the Quadratic Formula:

    Where a, b and c are from the


    Quadratic Equation in "Standard Form": ax2 + bx + c = 0

    Solve 3x2 - 30x - 12 = 0


    Coefficients are: a = 3, b = -30 and c = -12
    Quadratic Formula: x = [ -b (b2-4ac) ] / 2a
    Put in a, b and c: x = [ -(-30) ((-30)2-43(-12)) ] / (23)
    Solve: x = [ 30 (900+144) ] / 6
    x = [ 30 (1044) ] / 6
    x = ( 30 32.31 ) / 6
    x = -0.39 or 10.39

    Answer: x = -0.39 or 10.39 (to 2 decimal places)

    x =-0.39 makes no sense for this real world problem, but x = 10.39 is just perfect!
    Answer:

    Boat's Speed = 10.39 km/h

    (to 2 decimal places)

    And hence the upstream journey = 15 / (10.39-2) = 1.79 hours =


    And the downstream journey = 15 / (10.39+2) = 1.21 hours =

    1 hour 47min

    1 hour 13min

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