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Sentience
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Homework Statement
A sailboat is traveling east at 5.0 m/s. A sudden gust of wind gives the boat an acceleration a =(0.80 m/s^2 and 40 degrees north of east).
Homework Equations
V = Vo + at
X - Xo = Vo*t + .5at^2
V^2 = Vo^2 + 2a(X - Xo)
The Attempt at a Solution
I ended up getting the correct answer of 9.21 m/s, 19.6 degrees north of east.
However, the first several times when I tried to calculate the direction part of the vector, I found the angle by solving for the final positions of x and y and solving for the angle in that triangle. (Instead of using the x and y velocity components to solve for the angle).
I guess conceptually I don't understand why I have to use the velocity x and y components instead of the final positions of x and y to find direction.