Question

Two rowers, who can row at the same speed in still water, head across a river.

The first rower (Alice) heads straight across (but of course her boat is pulled downstream by the current).

The second rower (Bianca) heads slightly upstream, so that with the pull of the current she arrives directly opposite their starting point.

Who arrives at the other side first?

A) Alice
B) Bianca
C) It's impossible to tell without more information.

Answer 1

Alice

Answer 2

since alice's velocity vector is pointing directly across the stream, that means she is going V m/s say, east.

If bianca has her boat pointed north of east, only the east component of her velocity vector would get her across the stream.

another way to think about it is Bianca is using her force to not only get across but go against the stream, alice is just going across.

Answer 3

Alice