Answer: The speed of the wind is 40 miles per hour (mph)
Step-by-step explanation:
The first half of the trip took about 30 minutes to get to its destination, so if we must calculate the speed of the wind in miles per hour, it is important that we convert this time of flight for the first half of the journey (which is in minutes) to hours:
60 minutes --------- 1 hour
30 minutes --------- ?hour
= 30/60 × 1/1
= 30/60
= 1/2 hour
Now, we try to calculate the speed of the wind during the first half of the journey:
Since speed = distance/time and the distance covered by the plane during the first half of the trip is 40 miles, the speed:
distance/time
= 40miles/(1/2)
= 40 / (1/2)
= 40 × 2
= 80 mph.
This is the speed of the first half of the journey.
Then if the plane spent 20 minutes during the return flight, converting the time to hours:
60 minutes ------ 1 hour
20 minutes ------- ? hour
= (20/60) × 1/1
= 1/3 hour
Then the speed of the return flight =
40 miles/(1/3) hour
= (40/1) × 3/1
= 120 mph
To determine the speed of the wind in mph, we will subtract the speed of the first half of the trip from the speed of the return flight:
120 mph - 80 mph
Therefore the speed of the wind = 40 miles per hour (mph)
