"Published in Suisun City, California, USA"
A pilot heads his jet due east. The jet has a speed of 425 mi/hr in still air. The wind is blowing due north with a speed of 40 mi/hr. Find the true speed and direction of the jet.
Solution:
The given word problem above is about getting the true speed and direction of the jet. Since the directions of the jet and the wind are not collinear and have different directions, then we have to get the resultant of the two directions or two vectors as follows
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| Photo by Math Principles in Everyday Life |
Since the directions of the jet and the wind are perpendicular to each other, then the two vectors form a right triangle and a rectangle as shown in the figure above. The value of the resultant can be calculated using Pythagorean Theorem as follows
The direction of the resultant is calculated as follows
or
North of East Direction