Comment on iHave a Lovesick Teacher
Rivalarrival@lemmy.today 2 weeks agoThe boy’s speed is given as 5 ft/sec, but the question is ambiguous as to whether his position remains due north of the starting point, or due north of the girl. Your approach assumes the former, but his 5ft/sec speed may include the girl’s 1ft/sec eastward component.
kogasa@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
The implication that the boy is strafing while maintaining a straight vertical line to the girl is hilarious
Rivalarrival@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
Technically, his starting location is defined contradictorily, being both the same position as hers, as well as “due north”. We can only proceed if a point can be considered “due north” of itself.
Technically, his initial direction of travel isn’t actually defined, nor is that direction specified as constant. Only his initial position and “5ft/sec” speed has actually been defined. He could maintain a constant distance to her, orbiting her as she travels eastward.
In five seconds, he could be a maximum of 25 feet away from the starting point. That puts him up to 30 feet west of her, or 20 feet east of her. His possible position will be defined by an ellipse with foci at the origin and her position 5 feet to the east, with a major axis length of 50 feet. If his direction is fixed, he will be on the circumference of the ellipse. If not fixed, somewhere within the ellipse.
If his direction is not fixed, and he elects to minimize his distance from her, as his distance from her approaches zero, his revolutions around her in a given time will approach infinite, and we will have to consider relativistic effects. His body will be ripped apart into a pink mist, which he will experience for all eternity. Poetic, I suppose.