In navigation, the usual designation of a bearing is the direction measured from the south to north line. A bearing of 0 degrees is due North.
*Problem 1 and Problem 2 are from "Nathalie" -- an e-mail correspondent from somewhere in cyberspace.
Problem 1.
A pilot is flying at 168 mph. She wants her flight path to be on a bearing of 57 degrees and 40 minutes. A wind is blowing from the South at 27.1 mph. Find the bearing the pilot should fly, and find the plane's ground speed.
Problem 2.A ship sailing due east in the North Atlantic has been warned to change course to avoid a group of icebergs. The captain turns and sails on bearing of 62 degrees for a while, then changes course again to a bearing of 115 degrees until the ship reaches its original course. How much farther did the ship have to travel to avoid the icebergs?
Suppose the answer key in the Teacher's Manual gives the answer of 75 miles. What information did the author omit in order to solve the problem? Are there different pieces of information that would allow solution? What?
Return to the EMAT
6600 Page