Distance Between Two Ships Two ships leave the same port at noon. Ship A sails north at 18 mph, and ship B sails east at 17 mph. How fast is the distance between them changing at 1 p. m.? (Round your answer to one decimal place.)

24.8 mph

Step-by-step explanation:

as we know if one sailed north and another east, the angle with respect to the port will be 90 degrees

This means that the distance of each ship to the pier can be the legs of a rectangular triangle

The distance of a ship from the other would be represented by the hypotenuse

h: Hipotenuse

c1: leg 1

c2: leg 2

By Pythagoras we know that the hypotenuse is equal to

h = √(c1^2 + c^2)

if we replace with the values we have left

h = √(18^2 + 17^2)

h = √(324 + 289)

h = √613

h = 24.758

we round a decimal place

h = 24.8

set each factor equal to 0

4x-3 = 0

2x-1 = 0

solve for x.

4x-3=0

4x=3

x= 3/4

solve for x. 

2x-1= 0

2x= 1

x= 1/2

eventually after a few more steps, your answer should be 1/2 is less than or equal to x and 3/4 is greater than or equal to x