You are a member of a geological team in CentralAfrica. Your team comes upon a wide river that is flowing east. Youmust determine the width of the river and the current speed (the speedof the water relative to the earth). You have a small boat with an outboardmotor. By measuring the time it takes to cross a pond where thewater isn’t flowing, you have calibrated the throttle settings to the speedof the boat in still water. You set the throttle so that the speed of the boatrelative to the river is a constant 6.00 m/s. Traveling due north acrossthe river, you reach the opposite bank in 20.1 s. For the return trip, youchange the throttle setting so that the speed of the boat relative to thewater is 9.00 m/s. You travel due south from one bank to the other andcross the river in 11.2 s. (a) How wide is the river, and what is the currentspeed? (b) With the throttle set so that the speed of the boat relativeto the water is 6.00 m/s, what is the shortest time in which you couldcross the river, and where on the far bank would you land?
You are a member of a geological team in Central
Africa. Your team comes upon a wide river that is flowing east. You
must determine the width of the river and the current speed (the speed
of the water relative to the earth). You have a small boat with an outboard
motor. By measuring the time it takes to cross a pond where the
water isn’t flowing, you have calibrated the throttle settings to the speed
of the boat in still water. You set the throttle so that the speed of the boat
relative to the river is a constant 6.00 m/s. Traveling due north across
the river, you reach the opposite bank in 20.1 s. For the return trip, you
change the throttle setting so that the speed of the boat relative to the
water is 9.00 m/s. You travel due south from one bank to the other and
cross the river in 11.2 s. (a) How wide is the river, and what is the current
speed? (b) With the throttle set so that the speed of the boat relative
to the water is 6.00 m/s, what is the shortest time in which you could
cross the river, and where on the far bank would you land?
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