A ship sails 200 km on a bearing of 243.7 degrees.
(a) How far south has it travelled?
(b) How far west has it travelled?

Question

A ship sails 200 km on a bearing of 243.7 degrees.
(a) How far south has it travelled?
(b) How far west has it travelled?

anonymous · Answer

I think you can assume a "flat earth" here (unless you have already been learning about spherical trig...)

Draw a triangle sketch and label the angles and the 200 km "hypotenuse" and you should be able to solve for the south and west legs of the triangle using trig ratios

swissgirl · Answer

You have to draw a diagram first and then it will clarify everything

anonymous · Answer

Can u help me??

anonymous · Answer

help you draw?

swissgirl · Answer

lol

anonymous · Answer

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anonymous · Answer

you have to think about that angle a bit... north is 360 degrees or 0.  But you can't label the angle inside the triangle as 243.7 degrees... doesn't make sense.

swissgirl · Answer

@JakeV8  hmmm are you sure north is 0 degrees in my brain 90 degrees seems north |dw:1349285416504:dw|

anonymous · Answer

It's cuz you're a math wiz, not a sailor.

anonymous · Answer

yours is the normal axis set for doing trig math...  it just isn't the way a compass reads.

swissgirl · Answer

lol hahha

swissgirl · Answer

hahah that might confuse you actually

swissgirl · Answer

Ok so basically we know that  243.7 is in btwn 180 and 270 it is in the third quadrant

anonymous · Answer

you are counting the wrong way around :(

anonymous · Answer

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