Calculus professor who has clearly never been sailing

kito

kito

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Sep 13, 2012
2,011
1979 Hunter Cherubini 30 Clemmons
Phil Herring said:
...if you think I understand anything about calc other than "a sailboat wouldn't be moving that fast," you're reading too much into my title. ;) I couldn't begin to figure that out even if all the necessary data was there, and I had no idea it might not be.

Now, that said, I just posted this for some winter fun, I didn't think we'd end up with an argument among the engineers!
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LOL! Ok. How about the old brain teaser that some still don't get. If an airplane needs to get to 200 mph to take off and it was sitting on a treadmill running at 200 mph.......would it ever leave the ground?
 
woodster

woodster

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Sep 15, 2009
6,244
S2 9.2a Fairhope Al
kito said:
LOL! Ok. How about the old brain teaser that some still don't get. If an airplane needs to get to 200 mph to take off and it was sitting on a treadmill running at 200 mph.......would it ever leave the ground?
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only if you hit the breaks fast and hard on landing gear
 
Allan12210

Allan12210

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Jan 22, 2008
1,700
Hunter 34 Alameda CA
JoeSailer10 said:
And I might add, there are 10 kinds of people who understand binary: Those who do and those who don't. But that is a whole 'nother dimension in math.
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I got it. :biggrin:Why aren't you out here in the Silicon Valley?
 
Kermit

Kermit

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Jul 31, 2010
5,722
AquaCat 12.5 17342 Wateree Lake, SC
Phil Herring said:
Now, that said, I just posted this for some winter fun, I didn't think we'd end up with an argument among the engineers!
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You're clearly new to the forum. Stick around long enough and you'll realize we argue about *everything.*
;-)
 
DougM

DougM

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Jul 24, 2005
2,242
Beneteau 323 Manistee, MI
Phil Herring said:
...if you think I understand anything about calc other than "a sailboat wouldn't be moving that fast," you're reading too much into my title. ;) I couldn't begin to figure that out even if all the necessary data was there, and I had no idea it might not be.

Now, that said, I just posted this for some winter fun, I didn't think we'd end up with an argument among the engineers!
Click to expand
Part of the problem is basic Trig, not much calculus....
 
Meriachee

Meriachee

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Aug 1, 2011
3,972
Catalina 270 255 Wabamun. Welcome to the marina
We were just sitting around waiting for the weather to go someplace. Like Ottawa.
 
JoeSailer10

JoeSailer10

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Jul 29, 2014
73
Ranger R26 Muskegon, MI
I also was/am having fun. Not nearly as much fun as sailing, but then, here in the Midwest the lakes are all frozen, so w/o an ice boat...
 
thinwater

thinwater

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Mar 26, 2011
3,961
Corsair F-24 MK I Deale, MD
markwbird said:
Actually, none of the choices is correct. Velocity is a vector and, therefore, includes speed and direction. The correct answer is 206.16 km/h at a heading of 284 degrees.
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a. Relative to what?

b. Sailplane. Mathematicians can't spell.
 
M

markwbird

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Nov 26, 2012
1,654
C&C 40-2 Berkeley
Relative to the ground. Yes, it should be an airplane not a sailboat. The point of the question is to add the two vectors correctly. The sailboat thing is confusing and the fact that none of the answer choices includes direction is confusing.
 
thinwater

thinwater

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Mar 26, 2011
3,961
Corsair F-24 MK I Deale, MD
markwbird said:
Relative to the ground. Yes, it should be an airplane not a sailboat. The point of the question is to add the two vectors correctly. The sailboat thing is confusing and the fact that none of the answer choices includes direction is confusing.
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Obviously. But he also did not specify the wind before the new head wind nor whether the pilot would adjust course (he would). One answer, for example, is that his speed and apparent compass heading relative to the air around him (say he has no GPS) does not change. Basically a poor question requiring the student to guess the real question.
 
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