Denise is flying south at a speed of 230 km/h.wind is blowing from the west at a speed of 65 km/h, which causes plane to go off coarse.

Question

By what angle will Denise's plane be put off her southerly coarse if she does not correct her direction to account for the wind

Answer 1

Draw a diagram. Assuming Denise is flying due south, we will have a vertical vector with a magnitude of 230 and a horizontal vector of 65. The resultant vector joining these two would be Denise's actual speed and direction. The angle between the vertical vector and the resultant vector would be how many degrees off course Denise's plane will be if no correction is made to account for the wind.

 

Once you sketch this diagram, you will see that a right triangle is formed, and you can use one of the trigonometric ratios to determine the angle, namely the tangent function. If we call the angle theta, then:

 

tan Θ = 65/230

 

Find tan^-1Θ, and this will give you the angle's measure