Consider a category five hurricane that has a maximum wind speed of 160 mph at the eye wall, 10 miles form the center of the hurricane. if the flow in the hurricane outside of the hurricane's eye is approximate as a free vortex, determine the wind speeds at the location 20 mi, 30 mi, and 40 mi from the center of the storm.

Explanation:

maximum wind speed ( V ) = 160 mph ( tangential velocity )

distance from the center of the hurricane ( r ) = 10, 20, 30, 40

M = circulation of the Vortex

since the hurricane outside of the hurricane's eye is approximate as a free vortex the equation for calculating the wind speeds at different ( r ) will be

V =  equation 1

therefore - M = V * 2r

at r = 10 miles

- M = 160 * 2 * * 10 = 160 * 2 * 3.14 * 10 = 10048

wind speed at r = 20 miles

- M = 10048

insert into equation 1 : V = = 10048 / 125.6 = 80 mph

wind speed at r = 30 miles

-M = 10048

insert into equation 1 : V = 10048 / 2 * 3.14 * 30 = 10048 / 188.4 = 53.3 mph

wind speed at r = 40 miles

-M = 10048

insert back into equation 1 : V = 10048 / 2 * 3.14 * 40 = 10048 / 251.2 = 40 mph