Unit: Review Name:________________________

Lesson 3: Relative Motion Date:_________________________

Relative Motion
2-D Relative Motion
Classical relativity describes the relative motion of slowly moving objects. Special relativity describes the relative
motion of objects whose speed approaches the speed of light (this will be discussed later in the semester)

Example #1
Observe the following image. We have a train that is moving to the right along the x-axis, a person in the train who
is walking to the right along the x-axis and we have an observer who is standing on the ground watching this
situation.

Relative motion is based upon whose point of view you are referencing in a certain situation.

⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑣 𝑃𝑇 = velocity of the passenger relative to the train = 2.0 m /s
𝑣 𝑇𝐺 = velocity of the train relative to the ground = 9.0 m /s
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑣𝑃𝐺 = velocity of the passenger relative to the ground = 11.0 m /s
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗

𝑣𝑃𝐺 = ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ 𝑣𝑃𝑇 + ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑣 𝑇𝐺
𝑚 𝑚 𝒎
𝑣𝑃𝐺 = 2.0
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ + 9.0 = 𝟏𝟏. 𝟎
𝑠 𝑠 𝒔
From the point of view of the observer, who is standing on the ground, the observer would say that the passenger was moving
11.0 m/s to the right.

Had the passenger been walking toward the rear of the train, rather than toward the front, the velocity relative to the ground-based
observer would have been:
𝑣𝑃𝐺 = ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ 𝑣𝑃𝑇 + ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑣 𝑇𝐺
𝑚 𝑚 𝒎
𝑣𝑃𝐺 = −2.0
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ + 9.0 = 𝟗. 𝟎
𝑠 𝑠 𝒔

From the point of view of the observer, who is standing on the ground, the observer would say that the passenger was moving
9.0 m/s to the right.

Example 2: A boat points directly across a river at all times. Does the boat actually move directly across the river?

No – the current needs to be taking into account. As such the

current will move the boat. Therefore, motion of this object is vector
sum of the boat and the current.
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝒗𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 = ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝒗𝑩𝒐𝒂𝒕 + ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝒗𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕
Unit: Review Name:________________________
Lesson 3: Relative Motion Date:_________________________
Example #3
The boat in example 1 needs to cross a river but must avoid a waterfall downstream. How can the boat move
across the river?

The key idea in 2-Dimensional relativity problems is that we have to add the boat/ship vector to the water
current vector to get the result vector:

Example #4
A boat wants to move straight across a 30.m wide river. The current in the river is moving at 4.0 m/s and the boat's
engine speed is 6.0 m/s. At what angle should the boat head?
Unit: Review Name:________________________
Lesson 3: Relative Motion Date:_________________________

Example # 5
A boat heads directly across a 50.0m wide river at 2.00 m/s. The current is 1.00 m/s.
a) find the resultant speed and direction

b) find the resultant distance the boat travels in crossing the river

Example #6
A plane flies West at 300. kph. The wind blows NE at 100. kph. What is the resultant motion of the plane relative to
the ground (or an observer on the ground)? Draw and fill in the chart provided to solve by components.

Horizontal Vertical
Plane = 300 West (V1) -300 0

Wind = 100 NE (V2) +100 Cos 45 +100 Sin 45

Result (Vr) -229.2893… 70.7106…

Unit: Review Name:________________________
Lesson 3: Relative Motion Date:_________________________

We can also solve this question using the sine and cosine law:

V2

V1

NOTE: In the previous question, we were asked to add the planes vector (V1) and the wind vector (V2) to produce a
resultant vector (Vr) V1 + V2 = Vr

However, if we were to solve for the wind, we would do the following Vr - V1 = V2

Vr
V2

V1