A boat crosses a river of width 171 m in which
the current has a uniform speed of 1.51 m/s.
The pilot maintains a bearing (i.e., the direc-
tion in which the boat points) perpendicular to the river and a throttle setting to give a
constant speed of 2.59 m/s relative to the water.
What is the magnitude of the speed of the
boat relative to a stationary shore observer?

Question

A boat crosses a river of width 171 m in which
the current has a uniform speed of 1.51 m/s.
The pilot maintains a bearing (i.e., the direc-
tion in which the boat points) perpendicular to the river and a throttle setting to give a
constant speed of 2.59 m/s relative to the water.
What is the magnitude of the speed of the
boat relative to a stationary shore observer?

amistre64 · Answer

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just use the pythag thrm to determine the missing side