While taking a rest on a tree branch, a daring cowboy sees a wild horse running towards the tree he was on. he wants to land on the horses back when it passes under the tree. if the horse is running at a constant velocity of about 2 m/s and the vertical distance between the cowboy and the horses back is about 3m, how far away from the tree should the horse be when the cowboy steps off the tree branch in order to successfully land on the horse.
.019M
To solve this problem, we can use the concept of relative motion. The horizontal distance that the horse covers while the cowboy jumps from the tree branch needs to be equal to the horizontal distance between the horse and the tree when the cowboy jumps.
Let's consider the time taken by the cowboy to fall from the tree branch, which we can calculate using the equation:
time = height / velocity
Given that the vertical distance between the cowboy and the horse's back is 3m, and the horse's velocity is 2 m/s, we can calculate:
time = 3m / 2m/s = 1.5 seconds
Now, during this time, the horse would have covered a horizontal distance equal to its velocity multiplied by the time. So,
horizontal distance = velocity x time
horizontal distance = 2m/s x 1.5 seconds
horizontal distance = 3 meters
Therefore, the horse should be 3 meters away from the tree when the cowboy steps off the tree branch in order to successfully land on the horse.