Home » Maths for Planet Earth » An Advancing Hurricane

A hurricane is heading from the Atlantic Ocean to Miami, Florida. If the centre of the hurricane goes within a 50 kilometre radius of the city centre, the city will sustain very severe damage.

A meteorologist models the city centre as a fixed particle located at the point (240 , 200). They then model the centre of the hurricane as travelling on a path relative to the city defined by $$y = kx + 20$$.

The unit of distance for the meteorologist’s coordinate system is kilometres.

a) Find the values of k such that the city does not sustain severe damage.

[8 marks]

b) State one limitation of the model.

[1 mark]

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