Answer to Question #15701 in Mechanics | Relativity for bron padgett

Question

a ship is heading due west at a steady speed of 15km/hr. a current of 3km/hr is running due south. calculate the velocity of the ship relative to the seabed.(hint: the velocity of the ship plus the velocity of the current will add up to the total velocity of the ship relative to the seabed.)

Answer 1

West and south directions are perpendicular. So, according to the Pythagorean theorem the velocity of the ship relative to the seabed is

V = √((15[km/h])² + (3[km/h])²) = √234[km/h] ≈ 15.3[km/h].