A medical evacuation helicopter is dispatched from its base camp to pick up a patient at a rural hospital miles away. The pilot flies to the hospital at a steady speed of mph. Due to heavy headwinds on the way back, the helicopter's average speed for the entire round trip drops to mph. What is the helicopter's average speed, in mph, during the return flight?
Cevap: 60 mph
Cevap
60
By finding the total trip time (3 hours) and subtracting the outbound time (1 hour), we determine the return trip took 2 hours to cover 120 miles. Dividing the 120-mile distance by the 2 hours yields an average return speed of 60 mph.
Adım Adım Çözüm
Anahtar Kavram
Average speed for a round trip is the total distance divided by the total time, not the arithmetic mean of the two different speeds.