Mission VP6: Relative Velocity and River Boats

Mission VP6 focuses on the scenario of a motorized boat crossing a river in the presence of a current. The mission consists of 37 questions organized into 9 Question Groups. You must answer one question from each Question Group to complete the mission. The learning outcomes for this mission are ...
 

Learning Outcomes

• The student should be able to recognize the interdependence of the various kinematic and vector quantities associated with the motion of a river boat across a river in the presence of a current.
• The student should be able to calculate the values of the various kinematic quantities (time, distance, and velocity) for the motion of a river boat across a river in the presence of a current.

 

Launch Mission VP6

 

Getting Help

If you are not familiar with this topic, then you should first learn about the topic using our written Tutorial or our Video Tutorial:

The Physics Classroom, Vectors and Motion in Two Dimensions Unit, Lesson 1, Part f

• If a boat heads straight across a river, what effect will the river current have upon the subsequent motion?
• If a boat heads straight across a river, what effect will a changing river velocity have upon the location where the boat lands on the opposite shore?
• If a boat heads straight across a river, what effect will a changing river velocity have upon the time to cross the river?
• If a boat heads straight across a river, what effect will a changing boat speed have upon the location where the boat lands on the opposite shore?
• If a boat heads straight across a river, what effect will a changing boat speed have upon the time to cross the river?
• If a boat heads straight across a river, how can the time to reach the opposite shore be determined from the width of the river?
• If a boat heads straight across a river, how can the distance downstream be determined?
• If a boat heads straight across a river, how can the resultant velocity of the boat be determined from the boat speed and river velocity?

 

Video Tutorials:

Relative Velocity and River Boat Problems

 


 

 

Question-Specific Help

Each Question Group has its own Help page with information specific to the question. You can access the Help page from within the mission by tapping on the Help Me! icon (textbook). For your convenience, links to those pages are provided below: