Determining Speed & Angle of Raindrops Relative to Ground

AI Thread Summary
The discussion focuses on determining the speed and angle of raindrops relative to the ground based on observations made while driving. When driving north at 25 m/s, the rain appears at a 38-degree angle from the vertical, indicating a combination of the rain's vertical speed and the car's horizontal speed. Upon returning south at the same speed, the rain appears to fall straight down, suggesting that the horizontal component of the rain's velocity matches the car's speed. By applying vector addition, participants suggest creating a vector triangle to analyze the velocities involved. The problem emphasizes understanding relative motion and vector components to solve for the rain's speed and angle.
laxman31757
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
While driving North at 25 m/s during a rainstorm you notice that the rain makes an angle of 38 degrees with the vertical. while driving back home moments later at the same speed but in the opposite direction, you see that the rain is falling straight down. From these observations, determine the speed and angel of the raindrops relative to the ground.

i have no clue how to even start this
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Welcome to PF!

laxman31757 said:
While driving North at 25 m/s during a rainstorm you notice that the rain makes an angle of 38 degrees with the vertical. while driving back home moments later at the same speed but in the opposite direction, you see that the rain is falling straight down. From these observations, determine the speed and angel of the raindrops relative to the ground.

Hi laxman31757! Welcome to PF! :smile:

This is a vector addition problem …

velocities are vectors, so you can combine them using a vector triangle …

write Vcg for the velocity of the car relative to the ground,

Vrg for the velocity of the rain relative to the ground,

and Vrc for the velocity of the rain relative to the car …

so make a triangle, with an arrow along each side (and be careful to join the sides so that the arrows join correctly!) :smile:
 

Thread 'Errors and significant figures'

I multiplied the values first without the error limit. Got 19.38. rounded it off to 2 significant figures since the given data has 2 significant figures. So = 19. For error I used the above formula. It comes out about 1.48. Now my question is. Should I write the answer as 19±1.5 (rounding 1.48 to 2 significant figures) OR should I write it as 19±1. So in short, should the error have same number of significant figures as the mean value or should it have the same number of decimal places as...
View full post »
Thread 'A cylinder connected to a hanging mass'

Thread 'A cylinder connected to a hanging mass'

Let's declare that for the cylinder, mass = M = 10 kg Radius = R = 4 m For the wall and the floor, Friction coeff = ##\mu## = 0.5 For the hanging mass, mass = m = 11 kg First, we divide the force according to their respective plane (x and y thing, correct me if I'm wrong) and according to which, cylinder or the hanging mass, they're working on. Force on the hanging mass $$mg - T = ma$$ Force(Cylinder) on y $$N_f + f_w - Mg = 0$$ Force(Cylinder) on x $$T + f_f - N_w = Ma$$ There's also...
View full post »

Similar threads

How Does the Speed and Direction of a Car Affect the Apparent Angle of Rainfall?
Replies
2
Views
4K
Relative Velocity of Rain Drops in a Moving Vehicle
Replies
6
Views
26K
What Is the Speed and Angle of Raindrops in Different Reference Frames?
Replies
1
Views
2K
How Does Raindrop Angle and Speed Change with Car Direction?
Replies
1
Views
8K
Relative Velocity Problem: Finding Train Speed from Raindrop Angle
Replies
2
Views
8K
Speed of Raindrops Relative to Ground: 31.93 m/s
Replies
5
Views
8K
Relativity: A bus with a vertical windshield
Replies
3
Views
3K
Determine the ground speed and the course of the plane
Replies
1
Views
2K
Oblique soccer shot calculation task
Replies
38
Views
3K
Variable Mass System: Calculate Speed of Truck
Replies
20
Views
3K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top