Component Form of Velocity of an Airplane

31 Mar 2023

What is the component form of the velocity of the airplane? Answer: X-component of velocity = -800cos(60°). Y-component of velocity= 800sin(60°).

Given Data:

Direction of an airplane is 30° west of north at 800km/hr.

To Find: Component form of velocity

Solution:

Lets draw the picture.

The angle between the velocity vector and the negative X-axis is 60° (= 90°-30°). Using the definitions of the trigonometry functions

Then we have the:

X-component of velocity = -800cos(60°)

Y-component of velocity= 800sin(60°)

This is the component form of the velocity of the airplane.