A meteoroid is speeding through the atmosphere, traveling east at 23.1 km/s while descending at 18.3 km/s. What is its speed, in km/s?
To find the speed of the meteoroid, we can use the Pythagorean theorem, which states that the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.
In this case, the horizontal speed (eastward velocity) is 23.1 km/s, and the vertical speed (rate of descent) is 18.3 km/s. We can treat these speeds as the two sides of a right triangle, with the speed of the meteoroid as the hypotenuse.
First, we square the horizontal speed:
23.1 km/s * 23.1 km/s = 533.61 km²/s²
Then, we square the vertical speed:
18.3 km/s * 18.3 km/s = 334.89 km²/s²
Next, we add the two squared values together:
533.61 km²/s² + 334.89 km²/s² = 868.5 km²/s²
Finally, we take the square root of the sum to find the magnitude of the speed:
√868.5 km²/s² ≈ 29.5 km/s
Therefore, the speed of the meteoroid is approximately 29.5 km/s.
so, (south)^2 + (east)^2 = (southeast)^2
(11.5)^2 + (18.3)^2 = (resultant)^2
Resultant = 21.6 km/s
Used different numbers but it works