Trigonometry (10th Edition)

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0321671775
ISBN 13: 978-0-32167-177-6

Chapter 7 - Applications of Trigonometry and Vectors - Section 7.5 Applications of Vectors - 7.5 Exercises - Page 337: 23

Answer

The airspeed is 155.7 mph The ground speed is 161.3 mph

Work Step by Step

Let $a$ be the wind speed. Then $a = 42.0 ~mph$ Let $b$ be the plane's airspeed. Let $c$ be the plane's ground speed. The three vectors form a right triangle. The angle between the ground speed and the airspeed is $90^{\circ}-74.9^{\circ}$ which is $15.1^{\circ}$ We can find the airspeed: $\frac{a}{b} = tan(15.1^{\circ})$ $b = \frac{a}{tan(15.1^{\circ})}$ $b = \frac{42.0~mph}{tan(15.1^{\circ})}$ $b = 155.7~mph$ The airspeed is 155.7 mph We can find the ground speed: $c = \sqrt{a^2+b^2}$ $c = \sqrt{(42.0~mph)^2+(155.7~mph)^2}$ $c = 161.3~mph$ The ground speed is 161.3 mph
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