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The great astronomer Edwin Hubble discovered that all distant galaxies are receding from our Milky Way Galaxy with velocities proportional to their distances. It appears to an observer on the Earth that we are at the center of an expanding universe. [link] illustrates this for five galaxies lying along a straight line, with the Milky Way Galaxy at the center. Using the data from the figure, calculate the velocities: (a) relative to galaxy 2 and (b) relative to galaxy 5. The results mean that observers on all galaxies will see themselves at the center of the expanding universe, and they would likely be aware of relative velocities, concluding that it is not possible to locate the center of expansion with the given information.

Five galaxies on a horizontal straight line are shown. The left most galaxy one has distance of three hundred millions of light years and it is moving towards left. The second and third galaxies in the figure have shown no velocities. The velocities of fourth and fifth galaxies are towards right.
Five galaxies on a straight line, showing their distances and velocities relative to the Milky Way (MW) Galaxy. The distances are in millions of light years (Mly), where a light year is the distance light travels in one year. The velocities are nearly proportional to the distances. The sizes of the galaxies are greatly exaggerated; an average galaxy is about 0.1 Mly across.

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(a) Use the distance and velocity data in [link] to find the rate of expansion as a function of distance.

(b) If you extrapolate back in time, how long ago would all of the galaxies have been at approximately the same position? The two parts of this problem give you some idea of how the Hubble constant for universal expansion and the time back to the Big Bang are determined, respectively.

(a) H average = 14 . 9 km/s Mly alignl { stack { size 12{H rSub { size 8{"average"} } ={}} {} #"14" "." "9 " { {"km/s"} over {"Mly"} } {} } } {}

(b) 20.2 billion years

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An athlete crosses a 25-m-wide river by swimming perpendicular to the water current at a speed of 0.5 m/s relative to the water. He reaches the opposite side at a distance 40 m downstream from his starting point. How fast is the water in the river flowing with respect to the ground? What is the speed of the swimmer with respect to a friend at rest on the ground?

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A ship sailing in the Gulf Stream is heading 25.0º size 12{"25.0"º} {} west of north at a speed of 4.00 m/s relative to the water. Its velocity relative to the Earth is 4.80 m/s size 12{4 "." "80 m/s"} {} 5.00º size 12{5°} {} west of north. What is the velocity of the Gulf Stream? (The velocity obtained is typical for the Gulf Stream a few hundred kilometers off the east coast of the United States.)

1 . 72 m/s size 12{1 "." "72"" m/s"} {} , 42.3º size 12{"42" "." 3°} {} north of east

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An ice hockey player is moving at 8.00 m/s when he hits the puck toward the goal. The speed of the puck relative to the player is 29.0 m/s. The line between the center of the goal and the player makes a 90.0º size 12{"90.0º"} {} angle relative to his path as shown in [link] . What angle must the puck’s velocity make relative to the player (in his frame of reference) to hit the center of the goal?

An ice hockey player is moving across the rink with velocity v player towards north direction. The goal post is in east direction. To hit the goal the hockey player must hit with velocity of puck v puck making an angle theta with the horizontal axis so that its direction is towards south east.
An ice hockey player moving across the rink must shoot backward to give the puck a velocity toward the goal.

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Unreasonable Results Suppose you wish to shoot supplies straight up to astronauts in an orbit 36,000 km above the surface of the Earth. (a) At what velocity must the supplies be launched? (b) What is unreasonable about this velocity? (c) Is there a problem with the relative velocity between the supplies and the astronauts when the supplies reach their maximum height? (d) Is the premise unreasonable or is the available equation inapplicable? Explain your answer.

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Unreasonable Results A commercial airplane has an air speed of 280 m/s size 12{"280 m/s"} {} due east and flies with a strong tailwind. It travels 3000 km in a direction size 12{5°} {} south of east in 1.50 h. (a) What was the velocity of the plane relative to the ground? (b) Calculate the magnitude and direction of the tailwind’s velocity. (c) What is unreasonable about both of these velocities? (d) Which premise is unreasonable?

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Construct Your Own Problem Consider an airplane headed for a runway in a cross wind. Construct a problem in which you calculate the angle the airplane must fly relative to the air mass in order to have a velocity parallel to the runway. Among the things to consider are the direction of the runway, the wind speed and direction (its velocity) and the speed of the plane relative to the air mass. Also calculate the speed of the airplane relative to the ground. Discuss any last minute maneuvers the pilot might have to perform in order for the plane to land with its wheels pointing straight down the runway.

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Practice Key Terms 5

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Source:  OpenStax, College physics. OpenStax CNX. Jul 27, 2015 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11406/1.9
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