Question

If the plane is trying to make a supply drop, when would it release its’ supplies to hit the target below:

Answer 1

a.before the target

b.directly above the target

c. after the target

Answer 2

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/mmedia/vectors/pap.cfm

Answer 3

@jim_thompson5910

Answer 4

this is easy...

Answer 5

If a plane is flying at 100 mph for instance.. when do you think it will drop the supplies?

Answer 6

A plane is way above... the clouds... estimate "trajectory" blah blah... if you drop it after the wind will swipe the box backwards... most likely landing at your destination... if you do it before the target it will swipe backwards and completely miss your target... a direct drop will simply drop depending on what point you stop but a plane catching a high altitude and speed rate would cause a flat drop ... to sway or veer off in another direction...

Answer 7

@jim_thompson5910 you can probably better explain this..

Answer 8

The animation is showing what things would look like if there was no wind resistance. The box is let go before the plane reaches the target. The box and plane move forward together at the same speed.

If you factor in wind, then...

* the wind will push against the box and push it backwards if the plane is flying into the wind (aka a `headwind`)

* the wind will help push the box forward which means the plane could overshoot the target (this would be known as a `tailwind`)

* Or the wind could be at some angle not parallel to the plane's direction vector. The wind is called a `crosswind`



http://www.physicsclassroom.com/mmedia/vectors/pl1.gif

Answer 9

it's probably best to ignore wind since it complicates things greatly

Answer 10

exactly.. so in that case I would say directly above if you ignore the wind.

Answer 11

thank you both!

Answer 12

So I'd go for `a.before the target`

Answer 13

in a plane ?

Answer 14

before wouldn't help in a plane though... it would be a straight drop... unless you factor wind..

Answer 15

no, the animation shows that the package still moves forward (because of momentum). It won't drop straight down

Answer 16

yea I agree with you

Answer 17

hmm, ok that depends on a certain circumstance though...

Answer 18

imagine if you are driving a car, and you jump out you will keep flying then you will hit the ground.