Final answer:
To locate the emergency landed plane, we add the vectors representing the plane's two separate legs, breaking them into components using trigonometry. Summing these vectors gives us the direct path for the rescue crew in terms of both distance and bearing from the airport to the plane.
Step-by-step explanation:
To assist in this emergency landing scenario, we need to compute the resulting position vector by analyzing the two separate motions of the plane. The first motion has the plane fly 170 km at 68° east of north, and the second has it flying 230 km at 48° south of east. By representing these movements as vectors and adding them, we find the direct path the rescue crew should take.
This vector addition can be done graphically or by using trigonometry to break each leg of the plane's journey into its horizontal (east-west) and vertical (north-south) components. After determining the components, we can find the direct distance and bearing from the airport to the plane's location. The past examples and explanations equip us with strategies to calculate the required velocity of the plane relative to the ground and the direction the pilot must head by accounting for the known wind velocities, when necessary.
In summary, to find the direction and distance for the rescue crew, we add the vectors representing the plane's path, utilizing trigonometry to solve the components and then applying vector sum principles to find the result. This procedure allows us to efficiently direct the rescue efforts.