Question

A U.S. Coast Guard Response Boat leaves Charleston, South Carolina at 1:00 a.m. heading due east at an average speed of 46 knots (nautical miles per hour). At 4:30 a.m., the boat changes course to N 21°
E. At 10:30 a.m. what is the boat's bearing and distance from Charleston, South Carolina? Round all units to the nearest hundredth.



Bearing from Charleston, South Carolina:
(direction)

____ °
(direction)

Distance from Charleston, South Carolina:
______ nautical miles

Answers

GPT-4o mini
To find the bearing and distance from Charleston to the U.S. Coast Guard Response Boat at 10:30 a.m., we need to break down the boat's journey into two segments:

1. From 1:00 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. (3.5 hours) heading due east.
2. From 4:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. (6 hours) heading N 21° E.

**Step 1: Calculate the distance traveled east from 1:00 a.m. to 4:30 a.m.**

The average speed of the boat is 46 knots.

The time from 1:00 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. is 3.5 hours.

\[
\text{Distance} = \text{Speed} \times \text{Time} = 46 \text{ knots} \times 3.5 \text{ hours} = 161 \text{ nautical miles}
\]

**Step 2: Calculate the boat's position at 4:30 a.m.**

At 4:30 a.m., the boat has traveled 161 nautical miles due east. We can represent this position in a coordinate system as:
- Easting: \( 161 \) nautical miles.
- Northing: \( 0 \) nautical miles.

**Step 3: Calculate the distance traveled from 4:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at N 21° E.**

The time from 4:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. is 6 hours.

\[
\text{Distance} = \text{Speed} \times \text{Time} = 46 \text{ knots} \times 6 \text{ hours} = 276 \text{ nautical miles}
\]

**Step 4: Find the components of the distance traveled at N 21° E.**

Using trigonometry, we can break down the distance of 276 nautical miles into its eastward and northward components:

\[
\text{East Component} = 276 \times \cos(21^\circ)
\]
\[
\text{North Component} = 276 \times \sin(21^\circ)
\]

Calculating these:

- **East Component:**
\[
\text{East Component} = 276 \times \cos(21^\circ) \approx 276 \times 0.93358 \approx 257.9 \text{ nautical miles}
\]

- **North Component:**
\[
\text{North Component} = 276 \times \sin(21^\circ) \approx 276 \times 0.35837 \approx 98.8 \text{ nautical miles}
\]

**Step 5: Add the two segments together.**

Now we calculate the total east and north distances from Charleston at 10:30 a.m.:

- Total Easting:
\[
\text{Total Easting} = 161 + 257.9 \approx 418.9 \text{ nautical miles}
\]

- Total Northing:
\[
\text{Total Northing} = 0 + 98.8 \approx 98.8 \text{ nautical miles}
\]

**Step 6: Calculate the total distance from Charleston.**

Using the Pythagorean theorem to find the distance from Charleston:

\[
\text{Distance} = \sqrt{(418.9)^2 + (98.8)^2}
\]
\[
\approx \sqrt{175,173.21 + 9,748.84} \approx \sqrt{184,922.05} \approx 430.55 \text{ nautical miles}
\]

**Step 7: Calculate the bearing**

To calculate the bearing from Charleston, we find the angle from the north:

\[
\text{Angle} = \tan^{-1}\left(\frac{\text{East}}{\text{North}}\right) = \tan^{-1}\left(\frac{418.9}{98.8}\right)
\]
Calculating:
\[
\approx \tan^{-1}(4.24) \approx 77.12^\circ
\]

Since this bearing is measured clockwise from north:
- The bearing is \( 21^\circ \) east of north. Therefore, the bearing from true north is \( 360 - 77.12° = 82.88°. \)

**Final Answers:**
- Bearing from Charleston, South Carolina: **82.88°**
- Distance from Charleston, South Carolina: **430.55 nautical miles**

Thus, you can round these to the nearest hundredth as follows:

Bearing: **82.88°**
Distance: **430.55 nautical miles**