Question
A bus driver driving south along a highway is 16 km from the nearest city. After traveling a distance of 32 km, the driver finds he is 19 km away from the same city. Find the bearing of the town from the second position of the motorist.
Answers
Steve
If we label the points order A,B,C, then we want the bearing of A from C.
Using the law of cosines, you could find the angles, and then compute the bearing.
Or, you can find that the intersection of
x^2+y^2 = 19^2
x^2 + (y+16)^2 = 32^2
is (14.1,12.7)
and now you can figure the bearing back to (0,0)
Using the law of cosines, you could find the angles, and then compute the bearing.
Or, you can find that the intersection of
x^2+y^2 = 19^2
x^2 + (y+16)^2 = 32^2
is (14.1,12.7)
and now you can figure the bearing back to (0,0)