Canadian soldiers are practicing maneuvers in the Arctic, and all soldiers are starting at the same location. Platoon 1 is ordered to maintain their present location, Platoon 2 is ordered to march due north 1000 m, and Platoon 3 is ordered to march 800 m 40° East of North. How far away is Platoon 2 from Platoon 3 after the march?
Simple application of the cosine law
let the distance between them be d
(scale down so that 800-->8, 1000---> 10, just to make the numbers smaller)10^2+8^2
d^2 = 8^2 + 10^2 - 2(8)(10)cos40°
finish the arithmetic.
Well, it seems like we have a bit of a puzzle in the Arctic! Let's break it down.
Platoon 2 marches due north for 1000 m. They're going straight up like a determined penguin!
Platoon 3, on the other hand, marches 800 m at a 40° angle to the east of north. They're taking a slight detour, like a Canadian soldier who spotted a moose and got distracted.
Now, to figure out the distance between them, we can use a bit of trigonometry. Let's call the distance between Platoon 2 and Platoon 3 "d".
We have a right-angled triangle where one leg is 1000 m (the distance Platoon 2 marched) and the other leg is 800 m (the distance Platoon 3 marched 40° east of north).
We can use the cosine function to find the length of the hypotenuse (d).
So, d = √((1000)^2 + (800)^2 - 2 * 1000 * 800 * cos(40°))
Now, I could certainly plug that into a calculator for you, but let's keep the fun going! How about we distract ourselves with a joke while we calculate, just like Platoon 3 did with that moose?
Why don't scientists trust atoms?
Because they make up everything!
Alright, back to business. After all the arithmetic, the distance between Platoon 2 and Platoon 3 is approximately 697 meters. So they're not too far apart; they're just a good snowball's throw away from each other!
To find the distance between Platoon 2 and Platoon 3 after their respective marches, we can use the concepts of vectors and trigonometry.
First, let's represent the positions of Platoon 2 and Platoon 3 as vectors with respect to the starting point.
- Platoon 2's position vector (P2) after marching due north 1000 m can be represented as:
P2 = 1000 m north
- Platoon 3's position vector (P3) after marching 800 m 40° East of North can be represented as:
P3 = 800 m * (cos(40°)i + sin(40°)j)
Now, let's calculate the x and y components of P3:
- x component of P3:
Px = 800 m * cos(40°)
- y component of P3:
Py = 800 m * sin(40°)
Using these components, we can now find the distance between Platoon 2 and Platoon 3, which is the magnitude of the difference between their position vectors.
- Difference between the x components:
Δx = Px - 0 (since Platoon 2 stayed at the starting point)
- Difference between the y components:
Δy = Py - 1000 m (since Platoon 2 marched due north 1000 m)
The distance between Platoon 2 and Platoon 3 can be calculated as follows:
Distance = √(Δx^2 + Δy^2)
Let's calculate the distances:
Δx = 800 m * cos(40°) = 611.86 m
Δy = 800 m * sin(40°) - 1000 m = 843.17 m - 1000 m = -156.83 m (negative because Platoon 3 moved south)
Distance = √(611.86^2 + (-156.83)^2) = √(374506.54 + 24581.96) = √399088.50 = 632.19 m
Therefore, Platoon 2 is approximately 632.19 meters away from Platoon 3 after their marches.
To find the distance between Platoon 2 and Platoon 3 after the march, we can use vector addition.
First, let's break down the displacement of Platoon 2 and Platoon 3 into their respective components.
Platoon 2 marches due north for 1000 m, so its displacement can be represented as (0, 1000) (0 meters in the east-west direction, and 1000 meters in the north-south direction).
Platoon 3 marches 800 m, 40° East of North. To break this down into components, we need to find the east-west and north-south displacement.
The east-west component can be calculated as 800 * sin(40°) ≈ 516.06 m.
The north-south component can be calculated as 800 * cos(40°) ≈ 612.31 m.
So the displacement of Platoon 3 can be represented as (516.06, 612.31) (516.06 meters in the east-west direction, and 612.31 meters in the north-south direction).
Now, we can use the Pythagorean theorem to calculate the distance between the two platoons:
Distance = sqrt((east-west displacement)^2 + (north-south displacement)^2)
Distance = sqrt((0 - 516.06)^2 + (1000 - 612.31)^2)
Distance = sqrt((-516.06)^2 + (387.69)^2)
Distance ≈ sqrt(266262.7236 + 150429.4161)
Distance ≈ sqrt(416692.1397)
Distance ≈ 645.05 meters
Therefore, Platoon 2 is approximately 645.05 meters away from Platoon 3 after the march.