Objects A and B are at the origin. If object A moves to (0 ,4 ) and object B moves to (9 ,8 ) over 3 s, what is the relative velocity of object B from the perspective of object A? Assume that all units are denominated in meters.

1 Answer
Jun 14, 2017

3.14 "m/s"

Explanation:

We're asked to find the relative velocity of object B with respect to object A, given their positions after a time interval.

Let's first find the (assumed to be constant) velocity components of A and B with respect to the origin:

  • v_(Ax"/"O) = (4"m")/(3"s") = 1.33 "m/s"

  • v_(Ay"/"O) = (0"m")/(3"s") = 0 "m/s"

  • v_(Bx"/"O) = (9"m")/(3"s") = 3 "m/s"

  • v_(By"/"O) = (8"m")/(3"s") = 2.67 "m/s"

The equation here for the velocity of B with respect to A is given by

v_(B"/"A) = v_(B"/"O) + v_(O"/"A

Here, the velocity v_(O"/"A of the origin with respect to A is simply the negative of the velocity of v_(A"/"O)

Splitting this up into components, we have

v_(Bx"/"Ax) = v_(Bx"/"O) + v_(O"/"Ax)

v_(By"/"Ay) = v_(By"/"O) + v_(O"/"Ay)

So,

v_(Bx"/"Ax) = 3"m/s" + (-1.33"m/s") = 1.67 "m/s"

v_(By"/"Ay) = 2.67"m/s" + (-0"m/s") = 2.67 "m/s"

The magnitude of vecv_(B"/"A) is given by

v_(B"/"A) = sqrt((v_(Bx"/"Ax))^2 + (v_(By"/"Ay))^2)

= sqrt((1.67"m/s")^2 + (2.67"m/s")^2) = color(red)(3.14 color(red)("m/s"

Thus, the relative speed of object B relative to A is 3.14 meters per second.