Bearings Problem Solving Question:
From a lighthouse two boats can be sighted. Boat 1 on a bearing of 60° at a distance of 2km and Boat 2 on a bearing of 340° at a distance of 3km.
a) If Boat 1 is in need of assistance, what bearing would Boat 2 need to travel on to reach it?
b) Assuming Boat 1 does not move, how far would Boat 2 have to travel?


Answer :

9514 1404 393

Answer:

  a) 123.4°

  b) 3.3 km

Step-by-step explanation:

In (N, E) coordinates, Boat 1 is located relative to the lighthouse at ...

  2(cos(60°), sin(60°)) = (1.0, 1.732) . . . . . km

Boat 2 is located at ...

  3(cost(340°), sin(340°)) = (2.819, -1.026) . . . . . km

So, relative to Boat 2, Boat 1 is located at ...

  (1, 1.732) -(2.819, -1.026) = (-1.819, 2.758) . . . . . km

This is at a bearing of ...

  arctan(2.758/-1.819) = 123.4°

and a distance of ...

  √(1.819² +2.758²) ≈ 3.304 . . . . . km

a) Boat 2 would need to travel on a bearing of 123.4°.

b) Boat 2 would need to travel 3.3 km.

_____

Additional comment

We use (North, East) coordinates so we don't have to do the mental gyrations necessary to translate to and from (E, N) coordinates. The latter would correctly orient a map relative to the X-Y Cartesian plane. The former are equivalent to flipping the map over and looking at it from the back side. This is a "rigid transformation", so angles and distances remain unchanged.

View image SQDANCEFAN