Question

A small plane flies northward at 250 mph while being pushed eastward by winds blowing at 80 mph. Find the actual speed and direction of the plane to the nearest tenth.

Answer 1

Let's use vectors in order to find the resulting speed:

$Actual_{\text{ }}speed=\sqrt[]{250^2+80^2}=262.488095mph$

We can find the direction using the tangent identity:

$\theta=\tan ^{-1}(\frac{250}{80})=72.255^{\circ}$