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Solved: You are on the west bank of a river that is
Chapter 3, Problem 15DQ(choose chapter or problem)
Problem 15DQ
You are on the west bank of a river that is flowing north with a speed of 1.2 m/s. Your swimming speed relative to the water is 1.5 m/s, and the river is 60 m wide. What is your path relative to the earth that allows you to cross the river in the shortest time? Explain your reasoning.
Questions & Answers
QUESTION:
Problem 15DQ
You are on the west bank of a river that is flowing north with a speed of 1.2 m/s. Your swimming speed relative to the water is 1.5 m/s, and the river is 60 m wide. What is your path relative to the earth that allows you to cross the river in the shortest time? Explain your reasoning.
ANSWER:
Solution 15DQ
Your swimming speed relative to water is 1.5 m/s. And you are swimming in the direction from west to east.
The river flows with a speed of 1.2 m/s in the north direction, perpendicular to your swimming direction.
The vectorial representation shows,