Vector Plane

[amathproblemthatneedsolve]

Yeah, I understand what you mean now! 136.77ms^1 v^2= 151^2-64^2 = 18705 take the square root of 18705 to get 136.77ms^1 in the direction 25degrees North-West

 

[Dr.Peterson]

Yeah, I understand what you mean now! 136.77ms^1 v^2= 151^2-64^2 = 18705 take the square root of 18705 to get 136.77ms^1 in the direction 25degrees North-West

Just to make sure we're clear, the plane heads 25 degrees north of west, not at 136.77 m/s, but at 151 m/s airspeed. It is the groundspeed that ends up being due west at 136.77 m/s.

Always be careful to say what you mean! It's easy enough to make mistakes in math when you are clear, so we try not to make anything unclear, to ourselves or to others.

 

[amathproblemthatneedsolve]

So which one would now be the planes resultant speed?

 

[Dr.Peterson]

The resultant is what I called the groundspeed -- the speed at which the plane actually moves, the vector sum of the airspeed and the wind.