Two planes leave simultaneously from Chicago's O'Hare Airport, one flying due north and the other due east. The northbound plane is flying 50 miles per hour faster than the eastbound plane. After 3 hours the planes are 2840 miles apart. Find the speed of each plane. (Round your answers to the nearest whole number.)

Question

Reiny · Answer

let speed of slower plane be x mph
speed of faster plane = x+50 mph
After 3 hours they will have gone 3x and 3x+150 miles respectively,
and their flightpaths will form a right-angled triangle so that

(3x)^2 + (3x+150)^2 = 2840^2

Simplify and solve this quadratic using your favourite method.
Make sure to dismiss the negative answer and use only the positive one.
Let me know what you get

Anonymous · Answer

i used the quadratic formula and i got eastbound plane is 643.93 northbound plane is -693.93