Question

Three swimmers can swim equally fast relative to the water. They have a race to see who can swim across a river in the least time. Swimmer A swims perpendicular to the current and lands on the far shore downstream, because the current has swept him in that direction. Swimmer B swims upstream at an angle to the current, choosing the angle so that he lands on the far shore directly opposite the starting point. Swimmer C swims downstream at an angle to the current in an attempt to take advantage of the current. Who crosses the river in the least time?

Answer 1

Answer:Swimmer A

Step-by-step explanation:

Swimmer A swims perpendicular to the current so there is no component of his velocity which will contribute to the motion in a horizontal motion.

For swimmers B and C they left the shore with some angle such that one component of velocity will contribute to the motion in the horizontal direction.

So least time to cover the distance will be of swimmer A because velocity is maximum in the vertical direction.