A jogger runs 5.0 km on a straight trail at an angle of 60° south of west. What is the southern component of the run rounded to the nearest tenth of a kilometer?
Without rounding off, the answer is -4.33. Since, the southern component of the run of the jogger should be rounded to the nearest tenth of a kilometer, then the answer is -4.3. The answer is negative because it is going south.
The southern component of the jogger's path is given by:
\(S_y = S \sin \theta\)
where
\(S=5.0 km\) is the total distance of the jogger's run
\(\theta=60^{\circ}\) is the angle with respect to the horizontal direction
Substituting numbers into the equation, we find
\(S_y=(5.0 km)\sin (60^{\circ})=4.33 km\)
and the direction is south.