http://www.cleverscampcamp.com/camping-ax/
Need quick help with easy physics question??
A plane flies from base camp to Lake A, 360 km away in the direction 20.0° north of east. After dropping off supplies it flies to Lake B, which is 140 km at 30.0° west of north from Lake A. Graphically determine the distance and direction(angle) from Lake B to the base camp.
u use this equation R=sqrt((Ax+Bx)^2+(Ay+BY)^2)
i tried it but only have one more try, i got 498 and it was wrong
you have the right approach, break down each part of the trip into north/south and east/west components; sum the components, and the magnitude of displacement is the sqrt of the sum of squares
for the first leg:
x coord = 360 cos 20 = 338.3km
y coord = 360 sin 20 = 123.1 km
second leg:
x coord = -140 sin 30 = -70 km
y coord = 140 cos 30 = 121.2 km
total x coord = 268.3km
total y coord = 245.3km
total distance = sqrt[268.3^2+245.3^2] = 363.5 km
(did you remember that the x coord on the second leg is a negative?)
direction is given by:
tan theta = y/x = 245.3/268.3
theta = arctan(245.3/268.3) = 42.4 deg north of east
Camping Trip w/ Axe & Knife Throwing