Velocity and displacement question

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a problem involving velocity and displacement in the context of a swimmer crossing a river with a current. The original poster presents two questions: determining the speed of the river current and finding the appropriate heading direction for the swimmer to reach a point directly across from the starting position.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants explore the implications of the swimmer's speed relative to the current and question the feasibility of the original poster's calculated current speed. There are discussions about the swimmer's required speed and direction to counteract the current.

Discussion Status

The discussion is active, with participants offering differing perspectives on the correctness of the original poster's calculations. Some suggest using vector analysis for part (b) while others challenge the plausibility of the proposed current speed.

Contextual Notes

There is a concern regarding the assumptions made about the swimmer's speed and the river current, particularly the implications of the calculated values on the swimmer's ability to cross the river without being swept downstream.

Steven-
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Swimming at 0.15 m/s relative to still water, a swimmer heads directly across a 100-m-wide river. He arrives 50 m downstream from a point directly across the river from his starting point.
a) What is the speed of the current in the river?
b) In what direction should the swimmer head so as to arrive at a point directly opposite his starting point?

I got 13.3 meters/second for part (a). Can someone check this?
For part (b), I am unsure of what to do. Can someone give me a hint in the right direction?
 
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For part b: If the swimmer wanted to stay in one place, how fast would he have to swim? In what direction? Hopefully, this speed is less than the swimmer's stop speed, otherwise there'd be no way he could swim across without being swept downstream. This leads me to believe your answer for part a of 13.3 m/s is incorrect. Besides, 13.3 m/s is a very fast speed for a river.
 
Your answer for (a) is correct, for b, try using a vector approach.
 
(a) can't possibly be correct. If there were no current, the swimmer would cross the river in 100/0.15 = about 600 seconds. In the same time, a current of 13.3 meters/s would sweep the guy 8000 meters downstream.
 

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