An airplane used to drop water on brushfires is flying horizontally in a straight line at 180 mi/h at an altitude of 300 ft. Determine the distance d at which the pilot should release the water so that it will hit the fire at B. (Round the final answer to the nearest whole number.)

Explanation:

Please, see attached the figure that accompanies this problem.

Since, there is not information about air resistance, you neglect it and work the problem as a projectile motion.

The horizontal velocity of the water is constant and equal to the speed of the plane, since there is not any horizontal force (by neglecting the air drag).

Solving for d:

The initial vertical velocity is zero, because the plane is flying horizontally.

The time, t, is determined by the altitude (h), using the equation with initial vertical velocity zero.

Solve for t, substitute and compute:

Before calculate d, convert the speed to ft/s.

Now calculate d, using the first equation:

The answer is rounded to the nearest whole number by specifications of the problem.