Two canoeists in identical canoes exert the same effort paddling and hence maintain the same speed relative to the water. One paddles directly upstream (and moves upstream), whereas the other paddles directly downstream. With downstream as the positive direction, an observer on shore determines the velocities of the two canoes to be -1.2 m/s and +2.9 m/s, respectively.

Question

(a) What is the speed of the water relative to shore?

(b) What is the speed of each canoe relative to the water?

canoe going upstream- m/s
canoe going downstream- m/s

Answer 1

vs+vb=2.9
vs-Vb=-1.2

solve for vs
solve for vb

both relative to water is vb-vs