A boat takes 8 hours and 48 minutes to travel a certain distance upstream and 4 hours to cover the same distance downstream. What is the ratio of the boat's speed to the speed of the current?

Explanation

Let the boat's speed be x km/h and the current's speed be y km/h. The time taken upstream is 8 hours 48 minutes, which is 44/5 hours, and downstream is 4 hours. Using the distance formula: (44/5)(x - y) = 4(x + y). Simplifying: 44(x - y) = 20(x + y) → 11(x - y) = 5(x + y) → 11x - 11y = 5x + 5y → 6x = 16y → x/y = 16/6 = 8/3. Therefore, the ratio of the boat's speed to the current's speed is 8:3.