Answer to Question #114679 in Physics for Michael Mateus

Question

7. You are driving south of highway at 25m/s in a snow storm. When you last stopped.
You noticed that the snow was coming down vertically, but it is passing the windows
of the car at an angle of 30° to horizontal. Estimate the speed of the snowflakes relative
to the car and relative to the ground.

Answer 1

$$v_{\text{rel ground}}=v\tan{30}=25\tan{30}=14.4\frac{m}{s}$$

$$v_{\text{rel car}}=v\sec{30}=25\sec{30}=28.9\frac{m}{s}$$