Question

The river flows east at 3.0m/s. A boat is towed directly north across a river at 2.0m/s. Relative to the shore, the boat has a velocity of

Answer 1

The diagram representing this scenario is shown below

Vb represents the velocity of the boat and it is the resultant vector. To find Vb, we would apply the pythagorean theorem to the triangle formed. According to the pythagorean theorem,

hypotenuse^2 = one leg^2 + other leg^2

From the triangle,

hypotenuse = Vb

one leg = 2

other leg = 3

Thus,

Vb^2 = 2^2 + 3^2 = 4 + 9 = 13

Vb = square root of 13

Vb = 3.6

The velocity of the boat relative to the shore is 3.6 m/s