Question

Collapse question part Part 4 (d) What is the unit vector in the direction of the spacecraft's velocity? (Express your answer in vector form.)

Answer 1

Answer:

unit (v) = [ -0.199 i - 0.8955 j + 0.39801 k ]

Explanation:

Given:

                            v =  (-23.2, -104.4, 46.4) m/s

Above expression describes spacecraft's velocity vector v.

Find:

Find unit vector in the direction of spacecraft velocity v.

Solution:

Step 1: Compute magnitude of velocity vector.

                            mag (v) = sqrt ( 23.2^2 + 104.4^2 + 46.4^2)

                            mag (v) = 116.58 m/s

Step 2: Compute unit vector unit (v)

                            unit (v) = vec (v) / mag (v)

                            unit (v) = [ -23.2 i -104.4 j + 46.4 k ] / 116.58

                            unit (v) = [ -0.199 i - 0.8955 j + 0.39801 k ]