Question

dan and cheryl paddled their canoe 40 mi in 5 hr with the current and 16 mi in 8 hr against the current. Find the speed of the current and the speed of the canoe in still water

Answer 1

Let the speed of the current be x and the speed of the canoe in still water be y, then

$y+x= \frac{40}{5} =8 \\ y-x= \frac{16}{8} =2$

Adding the two equations, we have:

$2y=10 \\ \\ \Rightarrow y=5$

From any of the equations, we have that x = 2

Therefore, the speed of the current is 2 miles per hour while the speed of the canoe in still water is 5 miles per hour.