How to Calculate the Correct Path to Base Camp in a Whiteout?

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Homework Help Overview

The problem involves an explorer navigating back to base camp during a whiteout, where visibility is severely limited. The explorer was supposed to travel due north for 5.6 km but instead traveled 7.8 km at an angle of 50 degrees north of due east. The task is to determine the distance and direction needed to reach base camp from the explorer's current location.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss drawing diagrams to visualize the problem, considering the use of vectors and their components. There are questions about how to relate the vectors and whether subtraction is appropriate for finding the distance to base camp.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with participants sharing their diagrams and thoughts on vector relationships. Some have expressed uncertainty about their findings and are seeking validation from others. There is no clear consensus yet on the correct approach or solution.

Contextual Notes

Participants are working under the constraints of a homework assignment, which may limit the information they can use or the methods they can apply. The complexity of the angles involved is also a point of discussion.

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If anyone's got any hints or directions as to how to go about solving this problem, PLEASE help!

An explorer is caught in a whiteout (in which the snowfall is so thick that the ground cannot be distinguished from the sky) while returning to base camp. He was supposed to travel due north for 5.6km, but when the snow clears, he discovers that he actually traveled 7.8km at 50* north of due east. How far and in what direction must he travel no to reach base camp?
 
Last edited:
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kara said:
If anyone's got any hints or directions as to how to go about solving this problem, PLEASE help!

An explorer is caught in a whiteout (in which the snowfall is so thick that the ground cannot be distinguished from the sky) while returning to base camp. He was supposed to travel due north for 5.6km, but when the snow clears, he discovers that he actually traveled 7.8km at 50* north of due east. How far and in what direction must he travel no to reach base camp?

try drawing a diagram using the given info

see what you cna do from there...
 
i've got one, I'm just not sure what I'm looking for afterwards.
 
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In my diagram I've got two vectors that I've named A and B. SO do i subtract the two to get the distance between them C?
 
kara said:
In my diagram I've got two vectors that I've named A and B. SO do i subtract the two to get the distance between them C?

draw the diagram and post it here
 
You should have 2 vectors on an XY-coordinate system. If that's what you got, one shouldn't be directly on the xy-planes, so you're going to have to look for the x and y components for a particular vector. Once you do that, think in respect to the point he should be at to the point he is at.
 
kara said:
In my diagram I've got two vectors that I've named A and B. SO do i subtract the two to get the distance between them C?

cant just subtract because they are angles to each other
 
i tried drawing the diagram on paint, doesn't look too good but that's what I am thinking. Find the distance C
 

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i've figured out an answer, not sure if its right but if anyone's willing to check here is it: The explorer must travel 12. 61 km. I got 67* but that doesn't entirely make sense now that i look at it. Anyhoo let me know what you think.
 
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