Question

A pilot flying a constant 215 km/h horizontally in a low-flying helicopter, wants to

drop secret documents into his contact's open car which is traveling 155 km/h in the
same direction on a level highway 78.0 m below. At what angle (to the horizontal)
should the car be in his sights when the packet is released?

Answer 1

The car should be at an angle of approximately 2.24 degrees below the horizon when the packet is released.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the angle at which the car should be in the pilot's sights when the packet is released, we can use the concept of relative velocity. The horizontal velocity of the helicopter is 215 km/h, and the horizontal velocity of the car is 155 km/h. Since they are moving in the same direction, we subtract the two velocities to find the relative horizontal velocity between them: 215 km/h - 155 km/h = 60 km/h.

Next, we can use trigonometry to find the angle. The vertical distance between the helicopter and the car is 78.0 m. We can use the tangent function to find the angle: tan(angle) = vertical distance / horizontal distance = 78.0 m / (60,000 m / 3600 s) = 0.039.

Finally, taking the inverse tangent of 0.039, we find that the angle should be approximately 2.24 degrees (to the horizontal).