A few days ago
pinay804

I have done my Physics homework; however, I am confused about one problem. Can someone explain it to me?

Consider an airplane that normaly has an airspeed of 100 km/h in a 100 km/h crosswind from blowing west to east. Calculate its ground velocity when its nose is pointed north in the crosswind.

please help me by explaining this to me. it would really be appreciated!

Top 2 Answers
A few days ago
Anonymous

Favorite Answer

it is flying 100km/h north relative to the air plus

it is blown 100km/h east relative to the ground

so since east and north are at right angles you use pythagoras theorem to calculate the ground velocity

where the velocity is the hypotenuse and the other two sides are both 100km/h

so

v = √(100^2 + 100^2) = 100√2 ≈ 141km/h

and

tanθ = 100/100 = 1

so

θ = arctan1 = 45°

so v = 141km/h northeast relative to the ground

.

1

A few days ago
TurtleFromQuebec
After one hour it will have traveled 100 km to the north, and the wind will have pushed it 100 km to the east. Draw a diagram, note you have a right triangle and solve for the linear distance d it has traveled. Then calculate ground velocity as d km/h.
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