Multiple choice

A man wishes to cross the river in a boat. If he crosses the river in minimum time, then he takes $10$min with a drift of $120$m. If he crosses the river taking shortest root he takes $12.5$min. The velocity of boat with respect to water is?

  1. $2.3 m/s$
  2. $9.6m/s$
  3. $9.2m/s$
  4. $4.8m/s$
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
AI explanation

For the minimum time, the boat is pointed straight across, so the drift divided by the time gives the river velocity, which is 120 m divided by 600 s, or 0.2 m/s. The component of the boat's velocity perpendicular to the bank is then calculated by dividing the river width by the minimum time, yielding a width of 10 m/s times 600 s, which is 6000 m. For the shortest route, the boat's velocity relative to the water equals the resultant of its perpendicular crossing component and the upstream component needed to cancel the river's flow. Using the Pythagorean theorem, the boat's velocity squared is the sum of the perpendicular velocity squared (10 squared) and the river velocity squared (0.2 squared), and calculating this gives a velocity of approximately 9.6 m/s. The velocity of the boat with respect to water is 9.6 m/s.