Question

Can someoe please help me figure this out?

During the first part of a trip, a canoeist travels 63 miles at a certain speed. The canoeist travels 6 miles on the second part of the trip at a speed of 5 mph. slower. The total time for the trip is 5 hours.

1. What was the speed (Mph) for the first part of the trip?
2. What was the speed (Mph) for the second part of the trip?

Answer 1

let x = speed of first part of trip in mph
let x-5 = speed of second part of trip in mph

5 hours = 63 miles/x + 6/(x-5)

Solve for x. If you solve a quadratic, ignore the answer which would cause the slower speed to be negative (non-real case).