Question
Use the law of cosines
6. Two flying drones leave an airport at the same time. The heading of the
first is 120° and the heading of the second 320. If the drones are traveling
at 80 and 50 mph respectively, how far apart will they be after 1 hour?
Answer (Expert Verified)
The flying drones are illustrations of the laws of cosines
Both flying drones would be 128.13 meters apart after 1 hour
How to determine the distance between them
For drone A, we have:
- Angle =120 degrees
- Speed = 80 mph
So, the distance after one hour is:
Distance = 80 m
The distance is calculated using:
Distance = Speed * Time
For drone B, we have:
- Angle = 320 degrees
- Speed = 50 mph
So, the distance after one hour is:
Distance = 50 m
The angle between them is calculated as:
This gives
Using the laws of cosine, the distance (d) between them after 1 hour is:
So, we have:
Evaluate the expression
Hence, both drones would be 128.13 meters apart after 1 hour