Question

An observer sitting on shore sees a canoe traveling 5.0 m/s east, and a sailboat traveling 15.0 m/s west. What is the velocity of the sailboat as observed on the canoe (relative to the canoe)?

Answer 1

Answer:

Vs/c = 20 [m/s]

Explanation:

This is a problem of relative velocities, as velocity is a vector we can use addition or subtraction of vectors for the solution.

We are asked for the velocity of the sailboat with respect to an observer located in the canoe.

$V_{s/c}=V_{sailboat}-V_{canoe}\\V_{s/c}=15-(-5)\\V_{s/c}=20[m/s]$

Why is the speed of the canoe negative?, it is negative because the canoe moves in the opposite direction to the sailboat.