Question: Tom the Turkey is trying to escape being turned into Thanksgiving dinner. To fly to freedom, he must travel a 100 mile distance due east into an area unreachable by man. Later, after the holidays are complete, Tom flies 100 miles due west back to his home. Tom flies at the same constant speed on both of his trips but is either aided or hindered by wind resistance. He flies to freedom with a 10 MPH tailwind aiding him and flies back home into a 10 MPH headwind hindering him.
How fast is Tom’s constant flying speed if his trip to freedom takes exactly half of the time of his return trip home?
Show Answer ▼
30 mph
“Math Corner” is a contest that appears in each issue of The Current and is a collaboration between NSU’s Department of Mathematics | NSU Halmos College of Arts and Sciences | NSU and NSU’s Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts | Halmos College of Arts and Sciences | NSU. Contest submissions to the Math Corner question in the Current’s latest issue can be sent to jgershma@nova.edu up until the date the next issue is published. Prizes are awarded at the end of the academic year.
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