June 4, 201213 yr The question is this: A hiker sets out on a trek heading (N35degreesE) at a place of 5.0 km/h for 48.0 mins. He then heads west at 4.5 km/h for 40.0 min. Finally, he heads (N30degreesW) for 6.0 km, until he reaches a campground 1.5 hours later. A) Find his total displacement using vector components. SO, i used Ax = 4.0 cos 35degrees = 3.27 Ay = 4.0 sin 35degrees = 2.29 Then I looked at the answers and it said I should have used the angle 55 degree angle instead of the 35. How do I figure out when to use which angle?
June 5, 201213 yr Hi! It depends on what you mean by N35degreesE. If you mean 35 degrees north of east, I would find Ax as 4.0cos(35) = 3.28 km. If you mean 35 degrees east of north, the angle with the horizontal would be 55 degrees. Based on what you're telling me, I imagine N35degreesE is being used to represent 35 degrees east of north. Therefore, this would look similar to the diagram below: [ATTACH=CONFIG]431[/ATTACH] Does this help with your problem? Make it a great day! Dan
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