A superhero flies 310 m from the top of a

tall building at an angle of 30

below the
horizontal.
What is the horizontal component of the
superhero’s displacement? Draw the vectors
to scale on a graph to determine the answer.
Answer in units of m Your answer must be
within ± 5.0%

To find the horizontal component of the superhero's displacement, we need to use trigonometry. Given that the superhero flies 310 m at an angle of 30° below the horizontal, we can break down the displacement into horizontal and vertical components. The horizontal component is what we are looking for.

To determine the horizontal component, we should draw a right triangle representing the superhero's displacement. The vertical side of the triangle represents the vertical component of the displacement, and the horizontal side represents the horizontal component.

Now, let's use trigonometry. In a right triangle, the cosine of an angle is defined as the ratio of the adjacent side to the hypotenuse. In this case, the horizontal component is adjacent to the angle of 30° and the hypotenuse is the displacement of 310 m.

So, we can use the cosine function to find the horizontal component:

cos(30°) = adjacent/hypotenuse

Rearranging the equation, we get:

adjacent = cos(30°) * hypotenuse

Calculating the value, we have:

adjacent = cos(30°) * 310 m

Using a calculator, cos(30°) is approximately 0.866. Therefore:

adjacent ≈ 0.866 * 310 m

Adjacent ≈ 268.26 m

So, the horizontal component of the superhero's displacement is approximately 268.26 m.

Note: To draw the vectors to scale on a graph, you can choose a suitable scale for your graph paper. Assign a length for each unit on the graph. For example, you could use 1 cm to represent 50 m or any other scale that fits your graph paper. Then, measure and draw the vectors according to the calculated values.