3.5 Addition of Velocities

Bryan Allen pedaled a human-powered aircraft across the English Channel from the cliffs of Dover to Cap Gris-Nez on June 12, 1979. (a) He flew for 169 min at an average velocity of 3.53 m/s in a direction $\text{45}º$ south of east. What was his total displacement? (b) Allen encountered a headwind averaging 2.00 m/s almost precisely in the opposite direction of his motion relative to the Earth. What was his…

Near the end of a marathon race, the first two runners are separated by a distance of 45.0 m. The front runner has a velocity of 3.50 m/s, and the second a velocity of 4.20 m/s. (a) What is the velocity of the second runner relative to the first? (b) If the front runner is 250 m from the finish line, who will win the race, assuming they run at constant velocity? (c) What distance ahead will the wi…

A football quarterback is moving straight backward at a speed of 2.00 m/s when he throws a pass to a player 18.0 m straight downfield. The ball is thrown at an angle of $25.0º$ relative to the ground and is caught at the same height as it is released. What is the initial velocity of the ball relative to the quarterback ?

(a) A jet airplane flying from Darwin, Australia, has an air speed of 260 m/s in a direction $5.0º$ south of west. It is in the jet stream, which is blowing at 35.0 m/s in a direction $15º$ south of east. What is the velocity of the airplane relative to the Earth? (b) Discuss whether your answers are consistent with your expectations for the effect of the wind on the plane’s path.

(a) Another airplane is flying in a jet stream that is blowing at 45.0 m/s in a direction $\text{20}º$ south of east (as in the exercise). Its direction of motion relative to the Earth is $45.0º$ south of west, while its direction of travel relative to the air is $5.00º$ south of west. What is the airplane’s speed relative to the air mass? (b) What is the airplane’s speed relative to the Earth?

The velocity of the wind relative to the water is crucial to sailboats. Suppose a sailboat is in an ocean current that has a velocity of 2.20 m/s in a direction $30.0º$ east of north relative to the Earth. It encounters a wind that has a velocity of 4.50 m/s in a direction of $50.0º$ south of west relative to the Earth. What is the velocity of the wind relative to the water?

(a) Use the distance and velocity data in the figure to find the rate of expansion as a function of distance.

(b) If you extrapolate back in time, how long ago would all of the galaxies have been at approximately the same position? The two parts of this problem give you some idea of how the Hubble constant for universal expansion and the time back to the Big Bang are determined, respectively.

A ship sailing in the Gulf Stream is heading $25.0º$ west of north at a speed of 4.00 m/s relative to the water. Its velocity relative to the Earth is $4.80 m/s$ $5.00º$ west of north. What is the velocity of the Gulf Stream? (The velocity obtained is typical for the Gulf Stream a few hundred kilometers off the east coast of the United States.)