A boat sails for 30km on a bearing of 145 then 10km on a bearing of 250 calculate the distance covered from the starting point

1 answer

To calculate the distance covered from the starting point after the boat has sailed on the given bearings, we can break the problem down using vector components.

  1. Convert Bearings to Cartesian Coordinates:

    • For the first leg (30 km at a bearing of 145°):

      • The angle measured counter-clockwise from the positive x-axis (East) is \(145°\). Therefore, it can be represented in Cartesian coordinates as: \[ x_1 = 30 \cdot \cos(145°) \] \[ y_1 = 30 \cdot \sin(145°) \]
    • For the second leg (10 km at a bearing of 250°):

      • The angle measured counter-clockwise from the positive x-axis (East) is \(250°\). Therefore, it can be represented in Cartesian coordinates as: \[ x_2 = 10 \cdot \cos(250°) \] \[ y_2 = 10 \cdot \sin(250°) \]
  2. Calculate the Cartesian Coordinates:

    • First leg: \[ x_1 = 30 \cdot \cos(145°) \approx 30 \cdot (-0.819) \approx -24.57 \text{ km} \] \[ y_1 = 30 \cdot \sin(145°) \approx 30 \cdot 0.5736 \approx 17.21 \text{ km} \]

    • Second leg: \[ x_2 = 10 \cdot \cos(250°) \approx 10 \cdot (-0.17365) \approx -1.7365 \text{ km} \] \[ y_2 = 10 \cdot \sin(250°) \approx 10 \cdot (-0.9848) \approx -9.848 \text{ km} \]

  3. Add the Vectors:

    • Total x-coordinate: \[ x_{\text{total}} = x_1 + x_2 \approx -24.57 - 1.7365 \approx -26.3065 \text{ km} \]
    • Total y-coordinate: \[ y_{\text{total}} = y_1 + y_2 \approx 17.21 - 9.848 \approx 7.362 \text{ km} \]
  4. Calculate the Distance from the Starting Point:

    • The distance from the starting point can be found using the Pythagorean theorem: \[ d = \sqrt{x_{\text{total}}^2 + y_{\text{total}}^2} \] \[ d = \sqrt{(-26.3065)^2 + (7.362)^2} \] \[ d = \sqrt{692.9992 + 54.1865} \approx \sqrt{747.1857} \approx 27.37 \text{ km} \]

Thus, the distance covered from the starting point is approximately 27.37 km.