An helicopter flies in a strange pattern, all at the same altitude of 5 km: 1) it flies 29 km in a direction 30.0° east of north, 2) it flies 20 km due south, and 3) it flies 10 km in a direction 30.0° north of west. How far did the helicopter end up from its starting point?
A.59.0 km
B.11.7 km
C.18.8 km
D.23.0 km
E.5.0 km
Here's my approach to this one
Let him start at(0,0)......first, he flies to the point given by: (29cos 60, 29sin60) = (14.5, 25.1)
Then ....he flies 20 km directly south and ends up at (14.5, 5.1)
Then......he flies to the point given by (14.5 + 10 cos150, 5.1 + 10 sin150) = (5.83975, 10.1)
The distance from this point to the origin [ where he started] =
sqrt [ 5.83975^2 + 10.1^2] ≈ 11.67 km ≈ 11.7 km
[ Just as Melody said.....!!!! ]
Hi Chris,
My logic wasn't that complicated.
I did a rough sketch on a peice of paper and realised there was a 90, 60, 30 degree triangle there.
The hypotenuse is 20 and one side is 10 so the other is 10sqrt3.
So the distance from the beginning is 29-10sqrt3 = 11.7 km
Here is a more precise diagram.