in the cabin of a jetliner that cruises at a sped of 600/km/h, a opillow drops from an overhead rack. since the liner is moving so fast why doesn't the pillow slam into the omoartment when it falls?what is the horizontal speed of the pilow relative to the ground? And relative to me in the plane?
To understand why the pillow doesn't slam into the compartment when it falls in a moving jetliner, we need to consider two concepts: inertia and relative motion.
1. Inertia: The pillow, like any other object, tends to maintain its state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an external force. This is known as the law of inertia. So, when the pillow falls, it already has the same horizontal speed as the jetliner, which is 600 km/h.
2. Relative Motion: The horizontal speed of the pillow can be broken down into two components: the speed of the jetliner and the speed of the pillow relative to the jetliner.
a. Relative to the ground: Since the pillow already has the same horizontal speed as the jetliner, it moves along with the jetliner at 600 km/h. So, the horizontal speed of the pillow relative to the ground is also 600 km/h.
b. Relative to you in the plane: Since you are also traveling at the same speed as the jetliner, the pillow appears to be stationary from your perspective. It appears to fall straight down without any horizontal motion.
In summary, due to the principle of inertia and the fact that the pillow already has the same horizontal speed as the jetliner, it moves along with the jetliner and doesn't slam into the compartment. The horizontal speed of the pillow remains the same as the jetliner both relative to the ground and relative to you in the plane.