Let the speed of the wind be , and the speed of the plane in still air be . It takes at least two equations to find the exact solutions to a system of two variables.
Information in this question gives two equations:
It takes the plane three hours to travel from Ottawa to with a tail wind (that is: at a ground speed of .)
It takes the plane four hours to travel from Halifax back to Ottawa while flying into the wind (that is: at a ground speed of .)
Create a two-by-two system out of these two equations:
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There can be many ways to solve this system. The approach below avoids multiplying large numbers as much as possible.
Note that this system is equivalent to
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Either adding or subtracting the two equations will eliminate one of the variables. However, subtracting them gives only on the right-hand side. In comparison, adding them will give , which is much more complex to evaluate. Subtracting the second equation () from the first () will give the equation
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Substitute back into either equation or of the original system. Solve for to obtain .