Boat and Stream is an important topic to be covered in competitive exams preparation be it for IBPS Clerk, PO, RRB, SO, or SBI Clerk or PO Exam. The number of questions and the complexity of questions vary from exam to exam every year.
Boat and Stream are complex in nature and requires an understanding of Squares and Square roots, Cubes and Cube roots, Ratio and Proportion, Percentage Calculation, and Math Tables. Example questions on Boat and Stream and practice questions on Boat and Stream are given in this article.
Nowadays, questions in exams are mixed with multiple concepts and it requires practice and a deep understanding of basic concepts along with quickly identifying numbers.
Table of Contents
What are Boat and Stream?
Boat and Stream is a topic in which questions are related to Boat Speed, Time taken to travel from A point to B, and Speed of Stream.
Types of Stream
There are three types of stream. Below are they:
- Still water or stream
- Up Stream (when a boat is flowing against the flow of the river.)
- Down Stream (when a boat is flowing with the flow of the river.)
Formula
Below are the formulas used for Boat and Stream questions. There can be four possible scenarios, as below:
- When the direction of Boat and Stream is the Same. (Same Direction)
- When the direction of Boat and Stream is Opposite. (Opposite Direction)
- Speed of Boat.
- Stream Speed.
Same Direction
When Boat Speed is ‘x’ kmph in still water and stream speed is ‘y’ kmph. If boat and stream direction is the same then it’s said that Boat is traveling Downstream. Then the speed of the boat will be calculated as:
Speed of Boat = x + y
Opposite Direction
When Boat Speed is ‘x’ kmph in still water and stream speed is ‘y’ kmph. If boat and stream direction is opposite then it’s said that Boat is travelling Upstream. Then speed of the boat will be calculated as:
Speed of Boat = x – y
Speed of Boat
If speed of Boat in downstream is ‘x’ kmph and in upstream is ‘y’ kmph then speed of the boat in still water will be calculated as:
Speed of Boat = (x + y) / 2
Speed of Stream
If speed of Boat in downstream is ‘x’ kmph and in upstream is ‘y’ kmph then speed of the stream in still water will be calculated as:
Speed of Stream = (x – y) / 2
Solved Examples on Boat and Stream
Below are the few Solved Examples on Boat and Stream:
Example 1: If speed of boat is 10 kmph in still water and speed of stream is 2 kmph. Then find the speed of boat in downstream?
Solution 1: Given Speed of Boat is 10 kmph
Speed of Stream is 2 kmph
Putting value in formula we’ll get:
=> Speed of Boat in Downstream = 10 + 2 = 12 kmph
Example 2: If speed of boat is 10 kmph in still water and speed of stream is 2 kmph. Then find the speed of boat in upstream?
Solution 2: Given Speed of Boat is 10 kmph
Speed of Stream is 2 kmph
Putting value in formula we’ll get:
=> Speed of Boat in Upstream = 10 – 2 = 8 kmph
Example 3: If speed of boat in upstream is 10 kmph and speed of boat in downstream is 14 kmph. Then find the speed of boat?
Solution 3: Given Speed of Boat in upstream is 10 kmph
Speed of Boat in downstream is 14 kmph
Putting value in formula we’ll get:
=> Speed of Boat = (10 + 14) / 2 = 24 / 2 = 12 kmph
Example 4: If speed of boat in upstream is 10 kmph and speed of boat in downstream is 14 kmph. Then find the speed of stream?
Solution 4: Given Speed of Boat in upstream is 10 kmph
Speed of Boat in downstream is 14 kmph
Putting value in formula we’ll get:
=> Speed of Boat = (14 – 10) / 2 = 4 / 2 = 2 kmph
Practical Questions on Boat and Stream
Below are the few Practical Questions on Boat and Stream:
- Speed of boat is 6 kmph in still water and stream speed is 3 kmph. How much time will boat take to cover 45 kms in downstream?
- Speed of boat is 18 kmph in still water and stream speed is 2 kmph. How much time will boat take to cover 80 kms in upstream?
- Upstream speed of a boat is 8 kmph and downstream speed of a boat is 12 kmph. Find the speed of boat in still water?
- Upstream speed of a boat is 9 kmph and downstream speed of a boat is 15 kmph. Find the speed of stream?
- In downstream speed of a boat is 22 kmph, if the speed of stream is 2 kmph. Then how much distance boat will cover in 5 hrs?
Final Words
Practicing the above questions for Boat and Stream is not the end of your practice, but it’s the start of a new journey to apply logic on Boat and Stream with multiple approaches in a right and faster way.
For cracking competitive exams one must practice Boat and Stream without a calculator is a must. At last, during the exam, if a solution for the Boat and Stream question cannot be found easily then mark that question to revisit and move ahead instead of wasting time and energy.