Question

A cheetah is running at a speed of 20.1 m/s in a direction of 53 north of west. Find the components of the cheetah's velocity along the following directions.(a) the velocity component due north____m/s(b) the velocity component dug west____m/s

Answer 1

The situation described is shown below:

From the diagram we notice that the velocity due north will be related to the opposite leg of the angle given and the west component will be related to the adjacent leg. With this in mind:

a)

The component due north can be calculated using the sine function since it is related to the opposite leg, then we have:

`\begin{gathered} v_N=20.1\sin53 \\ v_N=16.1 \end{gathered}`

Therefore, the velocity component due north is 16.1 m/s

b)

This component will be related to the cosine function, then we have:

`\begin{gathered} v_W=20.1\cos53 \\ v_W=12.1 \end{gathered}`

Therefore, the velocity component due west is 12.1 m/s