Kayaking is hard
Classical Mechanics
Level
1
A kayaker paddles due north at 2 m/s. The river the kayaker is paddling in flows towards the east at 1 m/s. After 5 seconds of paddling, how far is the kayaker from where she started in meters ?
The answer is 11.18.
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1 solution
Since the velocities are perpendicular, the total speed of the kayaker is given by the Pythogorean theorem: s = 2 2 + 1 2 = 5 . The total distance traveled is this speed times the time, or 5 5 = 1 1 . 1 8 m .