Question

As an airplane descends toward an airport, it drops a vertical distance of 24 m and moves forward a horizontal distance of 320 m .what is the distance covered by the plane during this time?

Answer 1

Answer:

320.9 m

Explanation:

The total distance covered by the plane during this time is the resultant of the displacements of the plane in the two directions.

In fact:

- The plane moved 24 m in the vertical direction: $d_y = 24 m$

- The plane moved 320 m in the horizontal direction: $d_x = 320 m$

These two lengths represent the sides of a right triangle, so we can find the hypothenuse, which corresponds to the distance covered by the plane:

$d=\sqrt{d_x^2+d_y^2}=\sqrt{(24 m)^2+(320 m)^2}=320.9 m$