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Example 3.7
A Bullet Fired Horizontally
A bullet is fired horizontally from the top of a cliff that is
20.0 m above a long lake. If the muzzle speed of the bullet
is 500.0 m/s, how far from the bottom of the cliff does the
bullet strike the surface of the lake? Ignore air resistance.
y = 2(vfy + viy) t
Substituting viy = 0 and vfy = viy + ay t = ay t yields
1
y = ay(t)2 t =
2
2 y
a
y
x = vix t = vix
Discussion How did we know to start with the ycomponent equation when the question asks about the
horizontal displacement? The question gives vix and asks
for x. The missing information needed is the time during which the bullet is in the air; the time can be found
from analysis of the vertical motion.
We neglected air resistance in this problem, which is
not very realistic. The actual distance would be less than
1.01 km.
At the beginning of the chapter, we asked why the clam does not fall straight down
when the gull lets go. The gull is flying horizontally with the clam, so the clam has the
same horizontal velocity as the gull. When the gull lets go, the net force on the clam is
downward due to gravity. The clam falls toward Earth, but since ax = 0 the clam retains
the same horizontal component of velocity as the gull. Therefore, the clam is a projectile starting at the top of its parabolic trajectory.
3.6
The idea of relativity arose in physics centuries before Einsteins theory. Nicole Oresme
(13231382) wrote that motion of one object can only be perceived relative to some
other object. Until now, we have tacitly assumed in most situations that displacements,
velocities, and accelerations should be measured in a reference frame attached to
Earths surfacethat is, by choosing an origin fixed in position relative to Earths surface and a set of axes whose directions are fixed relative to Earths surface. After learning about relative velocities, we will take another look at this assumption.
Relative Velocity
Suppose Wanda is walking down the aisle of a train moving along the track at a constant
velocity (Fig. 3.23). Imagine asking, How fast is Wanda walking? This question is not
well defined. Do we mean her speed as measured by Tim, a passenger on the train, or
her speed as measured by Greg, who is standing on the ground and looking into the train
as it passes by? The answer to the question How fast? depends on the observer.
Figure 3.24 shows Wanda walking from one end of the car to the other during a time
interval t. The displacement of Wanda as measured by Timher displacement relative
to the trainis rWT = vWT t. During the same time interval, the trains displacement
relative to the ground is rTG = vTG t. As measured by Greg, Wandas displacement is
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Motion in a Plane
Wanda
Greg
vWT
Tim
rTG = vTG t
vTG
rWT = vWT t
rWG = vWG t
partly due to her motion relative to the train and partly due to the motion of the train relative to the ground. Figure 3.24 shows that rWT + rTG = rWG. Dividing by the time
interval t gives the relationship between the three velocities:
vWT + vTG = vWG
(3-15)
To be sure that you are adding the velocity vectors correctly, think of the subscripts as if
they were fractions that get multiplied when the velocity vectors are added. In Eq. (3-15),
W T W
= so the equation is correct.
T G G
Relative velocities are of enormous practical interest to pilots of aircraft, sailors,
and captains of ocean freighters. The pilot of an airplane is ultimately concerned with
the motion of the plane with respect to the groundthe takeoff and landing points are
fixed points on the ground. However, the controls of the plane (engines, rudder,
ailerons, and spoilers) affect the motion of the plane with respect to the air. A sailor has
to consider three different velocities of the boat: with respect to shore (for launching
and landing), with respect to the air (for the behavior of the sails), and with respect to
the water (for the behavior of the rudder).
Example 3.8
Flight from Denver to Chicago
An airplane flies from Denver to Chicago (1770 km)
in 4.4 h when no wind blows. On a day with a tailwind, the plane makes the trip in 4.0 h. (a) What is the wind
speed? (b) If a headwind blows with the same speed, how
long does the trip take?
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x
vPA (400 km/h)
Figure 3.26
Figure 3.25
Addition of velocity vectors in the case of a tailwind. Lengths
of vectors are not to scale.
The ground speed of the plane is 360 km/h and the trip
takes
1770 km
= 4.9 h
360 km/h
Equation (3-15) applies to situations where the velocities are not all along the same
line, as illustrated in Example 3.9.
Example 3.9
Rowing Across a River
Jack wants to row directly across a river from the east
shore to a point on the west shore. The width of the river
is 250 m and the current flows from north to south at
0.61 m/s. The trip takes Jack 4.2 min. In what direction
did he head his rowboat to follow a course due west
across the river? At what speed with respect to still water
is Jack able to row?
Water current
Shore
Path of rowboat
relative to shore
250 m
Shore
N
W
Not to scale
E
S
Figure 3.27
Rowing across
a river.
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Motion in a Plane
vWS
vRW
= 1.16 m/s
Jack rows at a speed of 1.16 m/s with respect to the water.
Discussion If vRS and vWS had not been perpendicular, we could not have used the Pythagorean
theorem in this way. Rather, we would use the
component method to add the two vectors.
If Jack had headed the rowboat directly west, the
current would have carried him south, so he would have
traveled in a southwest direction relative to shore. He has
to compensate by heading upstream at just such an angle
that his velocity relative to shore is directed west.
q
vRS
Figure 3.28
At the beginning of this chapter, we asked what the path followed by the falling
clam looks like as seen by the gull flying through the air. With respect to a beachcomber
on the ground, the clam has a constant horizontal velocity component given to it by the
gull and a changing vertical component of velocity due to the gravitational force
(Fig. 3.29a); the clam moves in a parabolic path. If the gull continues to fly at the same
horizontal velocity after dropping the clam, it is directly overhead when the clam hits
the rock because they both have the same constant horizontal component of velocity
with respect to Earth.
vGR
vGG = 0
vCR
vCG
vRR = 0
(a)
vRG
G = gull
C = clam
R = rocks
(b)
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Conceptual Questions
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In its own reference framethat is, using its own position as the origin of the coordinate axesthe gull sees the clam drop straight down toward the ground while rocks
and other objects on the beach are moving horizontally (Fig. 3.29b). The bird sees a collision between the horizontally moving rocks and the vertically falling clam. At any
instant, if the velocity of the clam with respect to the gull is vCG, the velocity of the gull
with respect to the rocks is vGR, and the velocity of the clam with respect to the rocks is
vCR, then vCG + vGR = vCR.
Conceptual Questions
1. Why is the muzzle of a rifle not aimed directly at the
center of the target?
2. Does the monkey, coconut, and hunter demonstration
still work if the arrow is pointed downward at the monkey and coconut? Explain.
3. Can a body in free fall be in equilibrium? Explain.
4. Is it possible for two identical projectiles with identical
initial speeds, but with two different angles of elevation,
y-axis: constant ay
vx = 0 (vx is constant) vy = ay t
x = vx t
(3-10)
y = 2(vfy + viy) t
(3-11)
(3-13)
To relate the velocities of objects measured in different reference frames, use the equation
vAC = vAB + vBC
(3-15)