Question

I wo ships leave from the same port. One ship travels on a bearing of 157° at 20 knots. The second ship travels on a bearing of 247° at 35 knots. (1 knot is a speed of 1 nautical mile per hour.) a) How far apart are the ships after 8 hours, to the nearest nautical mile? b) Calculate the bearing of the second ship from the first, to the nearest minute.

Answer 1

To calculate the distance between the two ships after 8 hours, we can use the formula: distance = speed × time.

For the first ship:
Distance traveled = 20 knots × 8 hours = 160 nautical miles.

For the second ship:
Distance traveled = 35 knots × 8 hours = 280 nautical miles.

a) The distance between the two ships after 8 hours is the difference between their distances traveled:
Distance = 280 nautical miles - 160 nautical miles = 120 nautical miles.

Therefore, the ships are approximately 120 nautical miles apart after 8 hours.

b) To calculate the bearing of the second ship from the first, we can use the formula: bearing = 180° - angle.

The angle between the two ships can be found by subtracting the bearing of the first ship from the bearing of the second ship:
Angle = 247° - 157° = 90°.

Therefore, the bearing of the second ship from the first is 180° - 90° = 90°.