A motorboat goes upstream on a river and covers the distance between two towns on the riverbank in 6 hours. It covers this distance downstream in 5 hours. If the speed of the stream is 1.5 km/h, find the speed of the boat in still water. [This problem is challenging.

Answer 1

If x is the speed, then since distance = speed*time,

6(x-1.5) = 5(x+1.5)

Answer 2

16.5