deals with problems where one object moves with respect to another. For example, an airplane might be traveling at 300 knots according to its airspeed indicator, but since it has a 20 knot headwind, the speed you see the airplane traveling at is actually 280 knots. You’ve seen this in action if you’ve ever noticed a bird flapping its wings but not moving forward on a really windy day. In that case, the velocity of the wind is equal and opposite to the bird’s velocity, so it looks like the bird’s not moving.
But what if the airplane encounters a crosswind? Something that’s not straight-on light a head or tail wind? Here’s how you break it down with vectors:
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Can you take an image of your work and send it to me directly? Math problems are hard to straighten out over just text. Send me an email: [email protected]
I’m confused how you got the 20 sin 20 for one side of the triangle and 20 cos 20 for the other side of the triangle. I understood that the law of sines is only for non-right triangles and the one you’re using here is a right triangle. What am I missing? Thanks!