A person looking out the window of a stationary train noticesthat raindrops are

Question

A person looking out the window of a stationary train noticesthat raindrops are falling vertically down at a speed of5.4 m/s relative to the ground. Whenthe train moves at a constant velocity, the raindrops make an angleof 23° when they move past thewindow, as the drawing shows. How fast is the train moving? A person looking out the window of a stationary train noticesthat raindrops are falling vertically down at a speed of5.4 m/s relative to the ground. Whenthe train moves at a constant velocity, the raindrops make an angleof 23° when they move past thewindow, as the drawing shows. How fast is the train moving?

Explanation / Answer

When the train is stopped, the 5.3m/s is the verticalcomponent and you are looking for the horizontal component. By using tan = opp/adj, you can calculate thespeed. With the rain making an angle of 23 degrees, and knowingthe opp component, you need to solve for the horizontalcomponent. This is assuming the rain is making a 23 angle offof the horizontal adj = opp/tan = 5.3m/s/tan 23 = 12.49m/s Hope that helps

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