Ben's boat will take 1 1/2 hours longer to go 12 miles up a river than to return. what is the rate of his boat if the rate of the current is 2 miles an hour? 4 mph 5 mph 6 mph

6 mph

Step-by-step explanation:

Let x mph be the rate of the boat. Going up the river boat has the rate x-2 mph (the current decreases the rate of the boat) and going down the river boat has the rate x+2 mph (the current increases the rate of the boat). Then it will take hours to go up the river and hours to go down the river. Thus,

The rate of the boat cannot be negative, hence, x=6 mph.

step-by-step explanation: noo