 Strictly speaking…all motion is relative to

something.
 Usually that something is a reference point
that is assumed to be at rest (i.e. the earth).
 Motion can be relative to anything…even
another moving object.
 Relative motion problems involve solving
problems with multiple moving objects
which may or may not have motion relative
to the same reference point. In fact, you
may be given motion information relative to
each other.
 We use a combination of subscripts to
indicate what the quantity represents
and what it is relative to.
For example, “va/b” would indicate
the velocity of “object a” with respect
to “object b”. Object b in this
example is the reference point.
Note: The “reference
point” object is
assumed to be at rest.
A plane flies due north with an airspeed of 50 m/s, while
the wind is blowing 15 m/s due East. What is the speed
and direction of the plane with respect to the earth?
What do we know?
“Airspeed” means the speed of the 
plane with respect to the air. vp/a
“wind blowing” refers to speed of

the air with respect to the earth.
va / e
What are we looking for?

“speed” of the plane with respect vp/e
to the earth.

We know that the speed and heading of the plane   

will be affected by both it’s airspeed and the wind v p / e  v p / a  va / e
velocity, so… just add the vectors.
   
v p / e  v p / a  va / e
So, we are adding these vectors…what does it look like?
Draw a diagram,of the vectors tip to tail! Solve it!
 This one is fairly
va / e  15m / s
simple to solve
N once it is set
up…but, that can
  be the tricky part.
v p / a  50m / s vp/e Let’s look at how
the vector
equation is put
together and how
θ it leads us to this
drawing.
   
v p / e  v p / a  va / e
middle
same

first last

Note: We can use the subscripts to properly line up the

equation. We can then rearrange that equation to solve for any
of the vectors. Always draw the vector diagram, then you can
solve for any of the vector quantities that might be missing
using components or even the law of sines.
 Other quantities can be solved for in this
way, including displacement.
 Remember that d=vt and so it is possible to
see a problem that may give you some
displacement information and other velocity
information but not enough of either to
answer the question directly
 When solving these, be very careful that all
the quantities on your diagram and in your
vector formula are alike (i.e. all velocity or
all displacement). Do not mix them!
If car A is moving 5m/s East and car B, is
moving 2 m/s West, what is car A’s speed
relative to car B.

5 m/s 2 m/s

Car A Car B

So, we want to know…if we are sitting in car B, how fast does car A
seem to be approaching us? Common sense tells us that Car A is
coming at us at a rate of 7 m/s.

How do we reconcile that with the formulas?

Let’s start with defining the reference frame for the values given. Both cars
have speeds given with respect to the earth.

Vb/e = -2 m/s

Va/e =5 m/s
Car A Car B

We are looking for the velocity of A with respect to B, so va/b = ?

If we set up the formula using the subscript alignment to tell us what to add,
we get…   
va / e  va / b  vb / e Then we need to solve for va/b .
  
So…
va / b  va / e  vb / e
 
va / b  5  2  7m / s, East