Physics vectors?

Question

Solve the following problem using analytical techniques: Suppose you walk 19.5 m straight west and then 24.0 m straight north. How far are you from your starting point, and what is the compass direction of a line connecting your starting point to your final position? (If you represent the two legs of the walk as vector displacements A and B, as in the figure below, then this problem asks you to find their sum 
R = A + B.
Give the direction in degrees north of west.) 

What is the magnitude aswell and the direction in degrees north of west? please provide steps.

Answer

The question is goofy because it depends on your starting point. If you start 24.0 meters south of the north pole, you can walk west forever and never be more than 39 meters from your starting point. And you can walk 24.0 meters north at any time you will be exactly 24.0 meters from your starting point.

If you start from the equator, that is nearly the same as an orthogonal grid. At 30 degrees latitude (Phoenix, AZ) the streets north/south acquire an error of 40 feet per mile. So every north/south street eventually dead-ends and starts up again some distance away.

Physics vectors?

Answers (1)