Question

Describe motion using the concept of relative velocities in 1D and 2D. A garbage truck speeding at 150 km/h overtakes a bicycle running with a velocity of 40 km/h. What is the velocity of the garbage truck from the perspective of the bicycle rider?​

Answer 1

Relative velocity is used to describe how fast one object is moving in relation to another. For the example provided, the relative velocity of the garbage truck as seen from the bicycle is 110 km/h, indicating the speed of overtaking from the cyclist's perspective.

Step-by-step explanation:

The motion of objects can be described using relative velocities, which consider the speed of one object in relation to another. In one dimension (1D), velocities can either be in the same direction or in opposite directions. In two dimensions (2D), we consider motion in a plane, which can involve more complex vector addition to determine relative velocities.

For the given example of the garbage truck and the bicycle, to find the velocity of the truck as seen from the bicycle, we calculate the relative velocity. The garbage truck is traveling at 150 km/h, and the bicycle is at 40 km/h in the same direction. Hence, from the perspective of the bicycle rider, the truck's relative velocity is 150 km/h - 40 km/h, which equals 110 km/h. This relative velocity indicates how fast the truck is overtaking the bicycle.