Two boats leave the same dock in Cairo, IL at the same time. One heads north on the Mississippi River while the other heads south. The northbound boat travels 4 miles per hour. The southbound boat goes 8 miles per hour. How long will it take them to be 54 miles apart?

4.5 hours

Step-by-step explanation:

To answer this, we shall be using a diagrammatic representation.

Now, let the time taken for them to be 54 miles apart be x hours

Mathematically, distance = speed * time

For the north bound boat, it would be 4 * x miles away = 4x miles away from the starting point

For the south bound boat, it would have travelled a distance of 8 * x = 8x miles

Now the distance between both is 54 miles ; this means that by adding the distance traveled by both, we shall have a total length of 54 ;

Thus mathematically;

4x + 8x = 54

12x = 54

x = 54/12 = 4.5 hours

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