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Serious Max
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Homework Statement
A crop dusting airplane flying a constant speed of 120 mph is spotted 2 miles South and 1.5 miles East of the center of a circular irrigated field. The irrigated field has a radius of 1 mile. Impose a coordinate system as pictured, with the center of the field the origin (0,0). The flight path of the duster is a straight line passing over the labeled points P and Q. Assume that the point Q where the plane exits the airspace above the field is the Western-most location of the field. Answer these questions:
1. Find a linear equation whose graph is the line along
which the crop duster travels.
2. Relevant graph
The Attempt at a Solution
The problem is just an example given in the textbook, and here's their solution:
1. Take Q = (−1, 0) and S = (1.5,−2) = duster spotting point. Construct a line through Q and S. The slope is −0.8 = m and the line equation becomes:
y = −0.8x − 0.8And my question is where did this y = −0.8x − 0.8 come from? Is it y-intercept? I'd assume it should be maybe: y = −0.8x − 2