What's our Vector, Victor?
A helicopter takes off from a military base to pick up three soldiers. Initially it flies 10 miles east to pick up the first, then it flies 20 miles north to pick up the second, and lastly flies 10 miles west to pick up the third. How far and in what direction is the helicopter from the base?
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1 solution
Say that the base is located at ( 0 , 0 ) . After flying ten miles east, the helicopter will be at ( 1 0 , 0 ) . It then flies 20 miles north from there, putting it at ( 1 0 , 2 0 ) . Finally, after flying 10 miles west, the helicopter is at ( 0 , 2 0 ) , negating the 10 miles it had traveled east. The helicopter is then 20 miles north of the base.
(Assuming we aren't super close to the North Pole, that is.)