A plane flies 300 mi in 4 hrs with the wind, 5 hrs against

[andyjay]

I need help with a word problem...

A plane flies 300 miles in 4 hours with the wind. Against the wind the plane flies the same distance in 5 hours. What is the rate of the wind?

I would appreciate the help. Thanks.

[stapel_eliz]

A plane flies 300 miles in 4 hours with the wind. Against the wind the plane flies the same distance in 5 hours. What is the rate of the wind?

Try using the standard set-up for "distance" word problems:

--------+-----+-------+---+
########|  d  =   r   * t |
--------+-----+-------+---+
   with | 300 | p + w | 4 |
--------+-----+-------+---+
against | 300 | p - w | 5 |
--------+-----+-------+---+

...where "p" is the rate of the plane, and "w" is the rate of the wind.