A car travels due east with a speed of 40.0 km/h. Raindrops are falling at a constant speed of 30.0 km/h vertically with respect to the Earth. The traces of the rain on the side windows of the car make an angle of
A) 53.0° with the vertical.
B) 53.0° with the horizontal.
C) 0.0° with the vertical.
D) 0.0° with the horizontal.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The angle of the rain traces with the vertical can be found using the tangent of the angle, which is the ratio of the horizontal speed of the car to the vertical speed of the rain: tan(θ) = 40/30. Solving for θ gives approximately 53.0° with the vertical.

A Car Travels Due East with a Speed of 40