# Problem #1597

 1597 A power boat and a raft both left dock $A$ on a river and headed downstream. The raft drifted at the speed of the river current. The power boat maintained a constant speed with respect to the river. The power boat reached dock $B$ downriver, then immediately turned and traveled back upriver. It eventually met the raft on the river 9 hours after leaving dock $A.$ How many hours did it take the power boat to go from $A$ to $B?$ $\textbf{(A)}\ 3 \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 3.5 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 4 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 4.5 \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 5$ This problem is copyrighted by the American Mathematics Competitions.
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• Reduce fractions to lowest terms and enter in the form 7/9.
• Numbers involving pi should be written as 7pi or 7pi/3 as appropriate.
• Square roots should be written as sqrt(3), 5sqrt(5), sqrt(3)/2, or 7sqrt(2)/3 as appropriate.
• Exponents should be entered in the form 10^10.
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