Two unknowns in trigonometric calculation?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around a trigonometric problem involving two boats departing from different harbors and the calculations needed to determine the course of the second boat to meet the first. The first boat travels at 20 km/h at a 60-degree angle for three hours before the second boat departs at 70 km/h from a harbor 160 km east. The user initially struggles with the equations and methods to isolate time (t) in their calculations, exploring various trigonometric identities and laws. Ultimately, the user discovers a solution to find the variable x, which allows them to calculate the angle v needed for the second boat's course. The conversation highlights the application of trigonometric principles in solving real-world navigation problems.
Ricaoma
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Ricaoma said:
Hah, nevermind, I found a way to find x and then I could just insert the value to get v, just like I thought! :biggrin:

Homework Statement


A boat leaves the harbor going 60 degrees north-east with the speed 20km/h. 3 hours later, another boat leaves a harbor 160km to the east with a speed of 70km/h. What course should the second boat have to meet the first?

Homework Equations


Not 100% sure what equations would be relevant, but those who've crossed my mind have been:

The definitions of sine, cosine, tangent
\sin A = \frac{opposite}{hypotenuse}
\cos A = \frac{adjacent}{hypotenuse}
\tan A = \frac{opposite}{adjacent}

Law of sines
\frac{a}{\sin A} = \frac{b}{\sin B} = \frac{c}{\sin C}

Law of cosines
c^2 = a^2 + b^2 - 2ab\cos C

Pythagorean theorem
a^2 + b^2 = c^2

Area
A = \frac{a*b*\sin C}{2}

The Attempt at a Solution


My sketched figure is attached to this post.

Start-phase
I started out by sketching a triangle with the base 160, the left side being 20t (20*time in hours since the first boat left) and the right being 70t-210 (70*time in hours since the first boat left - 70*3 for the 3 hours between the starting time).

Splitting the triangle
I also drew a line in the middle to make two right-angled triangles. Knowing that the bottom-left angle was 60 degees and that the new angle was 90 degrees I subtracted those two values from 180 to get the top angle of the left right-angled triangle.
180-(60+90) = 30

After that I used the definition of sine to calculate the length of the middle line, like this:
\sin60 = \frac{h}{20t}
20t * \sin60 = \frac{h}{20t} * 20t
20t * \sin60 = h

I did the same thing to find out the base of the left triangle:
\sin30 = \frac{b}{20t}
20t * \sin30 = \frac{b}{20t} * 20t
20t * \sin30 = b

With this knowledge I know that the base of the right-side triangle's base is
160 = 20t*sin(30) + b<sub>2</sub>
160 - 20t * \sin30

The problem
I've tried all the things I've come up with so far, and most of them gives the same result. What I have to do is to get t out of any of the equations and then use that value to get rid of the t in all the equations. However, I have not yet been able to find an equation where this is an easy/possible task with my current trigonometric knowledge, which is pretty limited to the relevant equations listed above. Although, keep in mind that I may simply have missed an oppertunity to simplify an equation of overlooked some way of solving this, so the answer may still be in something that I think I've tried.

Some things I've tried:

Sine
\sin V = \frac{20t*\sin60}{70t-210}

Cosine
\cos V = \frac{160-20t*\sin30}{70t-210}

Law of Sine
Same result as my Sine-based approach
\frac{\sin90}{70t-210} = \frac{\sin V}{20t*\sin60}
\sin V = \frac{20t*\sin 60}{70t-210}

Law of Cossine
(20t)^2 = (70t-210)^2 + 160^2 - 2*160*(70t-210)*\cos V
\cos V = \frac{225t^2 - 1470t + 3485}{1120t - 3360}

Equation system based on area
Same result as my Sine-based approach
A = \frac{a*b*\sin V}{2}
A = \frac{a*h}{2}
\frac{a*b*\sin V}{2} = \frac{a*h}{2}
a*b*\sin V = a*h
b*\sin V = h
\sin V = \frac{h}{b}
\sin V = \frac{20t*\sin60}{70t-210}

Equation system based on Cosine and Law of Cosine
Don't know how to solve a third-degree equation like this
\cos V = \frac{160-20t*\sin30}{70t-210}
\cos V = \frac{225t^2 - 1470t + 3485}{1120t - 3360}
\frac{160-20t*\sin30}{70t-210} = \frac{225t^2 - 1470t + 3485}{1120t - 3360}
315t^3 - 2769t^2 + 6797t - 3885 = 0I'm really out of ideas now, so any ideas or thoughts are very much appreciated.
 

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Hah, nevermind, I found a way to find x and then I could just insert the value to get v, just like I thought! :biggrin:
 
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