Okay, I ended up solving it using calculus for partial credit, it was worth 5 points to the overall grade for my Engineering Mathematics class.
I broke up the boats vector (25 mph) into x (25cos\beta and let \beta = 180 - launch angle or angle into the current) and y ( 25sin\beta) directions...
Umm, what I'm suppose to find is the best angle to launch the boat at, using the current as the positive x axis, to find the greatest resultant angle.
It was a extra credit question and my teacher will be going over it later today. I'll post the results he gives in case anyone else gets a...
This is a engineering question and we are not aloud to use calculus. We are told we have a boat on the bank of a river with a current to the right at 30 mph and the max speed of the boat is 25 mph. The question is, traveling at what angle gives the best chance to make it across?
The teacher...