How Does Wind Direction Affect Perception of Speed in Moving Vehicles?

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In summary: However, what is happening here is that the dog is being chased by the hunter, who is adjusting his speed and direction according to where the dog is. Hence the direction of the dog's motion is also changing, so it is not a simple situation. The dog's motion is not circular, and the hunters motion is not circular, but both are changing in relation to each other.In summary, the questions involve situations that are not as simple as they may seem at first glance. In the first question, the man should feel the wind blowing from SW instead of SE when he increases his speed. In the second question, the situation involves changing velocities and directions for both the dog and the hunter, making it more complicated than
  • #1
henry407
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Q1:
There is a man riding a motorcar, and it move toward west with 4m/s, and the man feel the wind blow from the south. If the motorcar increase the speed to 6m/s, he feel the wind is blow from SE(or135), so what is the wind speed?

When I do this question, I don't know why the man can feel the wind blow from SE when he increase his speed, isn't suppose he feels the wind blow from SW??

Q2:
[URL=http://www.dumpt.com/img/viewer.php?file=9e51a6ndf3axbrdjvgp2.png][PLAIN]http://www.dumpt.com/img/files/9e51a6ndf3axbrdjvgp2_thumb.png[/URL][/PLAIN]

There is a dog, move on the upper line with a constant speed V1. and a hunter chase the dog with a speed v2, and it's motion is always toward the dog(point toward). At a pt. D, and F, where FD is perpendicular to the upper line. Find the acc. of the hunter. (where FD = L)

When I am doing this question, I only know it is related to circular motion, but when I saw the answer, I had no idea what is going on. the answer is v1xv2/L. Could anyone tell me is that there are only a Centripetal acc?





(I am come from hong kong, forgive my poor english)
 
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  • #2
henry407 said:
Q1:
There is a man riding a motorcar, and it move toward west with 4m/s, and the man feel the wind blow from the south. If the motorcar increase the speed to 6m/s, he feel the wind is blow from SE(or135), so what is the wind speed?

When I do this question, I don't know why the man can feel the wind blow from SE when he increase his speed, isn't suppose he feels the wind blow from SW??

Q2:
[URL=http://www.dumpt.com/img/viewer.php?file=9e51a6ndf3axbrdjvgp2.png][PLAIN]http://www.dumpt.com/img/files/9e51a6ndf3axbrdjvgp2_thumb.png[/URL][/PLAIN]

There is a dog, move on the upper line with a constant speed V1. and a hunter chase the dog with a speed v2, and it's motion is always toward the dog(point toward). At a pt. D, and F, where FD is perpendicular to the upper line. Find the acc. of the hunter. (where FD = L)

When I am doing this question, I only know it is related to circular motion, but when I saw the answer, I had no idea what is going on. the answer is v1xv2/L. Could anyone tell me is that there are only a Centripetal acc?


(I am come from hong kong, forgive my poor english)

Q1. I agree with your concern - either the new wind is SW or the car motion is East.

Q2. I don't think this is circular motion. The acceleration will be calculated from limits of changes in velocity of the hunter - due to changes of course only in direction.
To get a feel for this, assume some values, and see what is happening. Consider the situation given, then what we would have a small time interval before and after.
perhaps make that time interval 0.1 second at first, then 0.01 seconds and see what is happening.
Also, presumable v2 is greater than v1, or the hunter is never going to catch the dog.
Don't lose sight of the idea that for very small angles, TanA, A and SinA are all approximately equal - A measured in radians [not degrees]
 
  • #3
PeterO said:
Q1. I agree with your concern - either the new wind is SW or the car motion is East.

Q2. I don't think this is circular motion. The acceleration will be calculated from limits of changes in velocity of the hunter - due to changes of course only in direction.
To get a feel for this, assume some values, and see what is happening. Consider the situation given, then what we would have a small time interval before and after.
perhaps make that time interval 0.1 second at first, then 0.01 seconds and see what is happening.
Also, presumable v2 is greater than v1, or the hunter is never going to catch the dog.
Don't lose sight of the idea that for very small angles, TanA, A and SinA are all approximately equal - A measured in radians [not degrees]

Thinks for ur opinion first. I still think it is a circular motion, isn't it (the only thing is the radiu is keep changing)., in the question, we can observe that the angle made by the hunter and the dog is 90 degree(I don't like radian, althought all my physics teacher tell me to use radian).
o, after I read the question, I had a thought of using a= v^(2)/R. But it only can calculate the centirpal acc., but there are also tangent acc.(the name maybe wrong).
 
  • #4
henry407 said:
Thinks for ur opinion first. I still think it is a circular motion, isn't it (the only thing is the radiu is keep changing)., in the question, we can observe that the angle made by the hunter and the dog is 90 degree(I don't like radian, althought all my physics teacher tell me to use radian).
o, after I read the question, I had a thought of using a= v^(2)/R. But it only can calculate the centirpal acc., but there are also tangent acc.(the name maybe wrong).

Firstly, every curve can be approximated to a circle, if you look at a small enough section of the curve.
That is born out by the fact that a small spherical mirror will focus light almost as well as a parabolic mirror.

If the hunter was traveling in a circle, the centre of that circle would be somewhere to the right of the point where he currently is, and why you would choose the radius of that circle to be the same as the distance to the dog I am not sure ?

There is no tangential acceleration, so v^2 / R might be useful, but you do not know the value of R anyway?
Remember, R is the distance to the centre of the circle - and you only know that the centre of the circle is to the right, not how far away it is.
 
  • #5


I would approach these questions by first clarifying the given information and making sure it is accurate. In Q1, it is stated that the man feels the wind blowing from the south when the motorcar is moving at 4m/s towards the west. However, when the speed increases to 6m/s, the wind is felt from the southeast (135 degrees). This suggests that the wind direction has changed, which may not be physically possible. I would question whether the wind direction was accurately measured or if there are other factors at play that could explain this discrepancy.

In response to Q2, the image provided shows a dog moving along a straight line with a constant speed V1 and a hunter chasing the dog at a speed V2, always pointing towards the dog. The question asks for the acceleration of the hunter at points D and F, where FD is perpendicular to the dog's path and has a length of L. The answer provided is v1 x v2 / L, which is derived from the formula for centripetal acceleration. This answer assumes that the hunter is moving in a circular motion around the dog, with the radius of the circle being the length L. This is a valid assumption if we consider the hunter's motion to be a result of the dog's circular motion. However, without further information or clarification, it is difficult to fully understand the scenario and provide a definitive answer.

In both cases, it is important to carefully analyze the given information and consider any potential limitations or discrepancies. As a scientist, it is crucial to approach problems critically and make sure all variables and factors are accounted for before reaching a conclusion.
 

FAQ: How Does Wind Direction Affect Perception of Speed in Moving Vehicles?

What is motion?

Motion is the change in position of an object over time. It can be described in terms of speed, velocity, and acceleration.

What causes motion?

Motion is caused by forces acting on an object. These forces can be external, such as gravity or friction, or internal, such as muscle contractions in living organisms.

What are the different types of motion?

The main types of motion are linear motion, circular motion, and rotational motion. Linear motion is movement in a straight line, while circular motion is movement along a circular path. Rotational motion is movement around an axis.

What is the difference between speed and velocity?

Speed is the rate at which an object is moving, while velocity is the speed and direction of an object. In other words, velocity includes both the magnitude and direction of motion, while speed only refers to the magnitude.

How is motion related to energy?

Motion is closely related to energy, as any change in motion requires the application of energy. For example, to increase the speed of an object, energy must be added to overcome any opposing forces. On the other hand, when an object is in motion, it possesses kinetic energy, which is the energy of motion.

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