Determining the horizontal position of an object [closed]

Question

In my calc-physics class we were given the following question:

A movie stuntwoman drops from a helicopter that is $30.0 m$ above the ground and moving with a constant velocity whose components are $10.0 \frac{m}{s}$ upward and $15.0 \frac{m}{s}$ horizontal and toward the south. You can ignore air resistance.

What is the horizontal distance(relative to the position of the helicopter when she drops) at which the stuntwoman should have placed the foam mats that break her fall?

I figured I could simply calculate the magnitude of the components since that will give me the distance, but the answer I got was incorrect.

I'm not looking for an answer, but would appreciate any assistance you all could offer in helping me to solve this problem.

Answer 1

I am not sure what you meant by:

"I figured I could simply calculate the magnitude of the components since that will give me the distance"

But the idea is use the kinematics equations for x and y:

$x(t)=x_{0}+v_{x0}t+1/2at^2$

and

$y(t)=y_{0}+v_{y0}t+1/2at^2$

These equations are derived from integrating the acceleration function $a(t)=-g\hat{y}=-9.8m/s^2\hat{y}$

You are given the initial horizontal and vertical position ($x_{0}=0$ and $y_{0}$) and the initial horizontal and velocities ($v_{y0}$ and $v_{x0}$)

I think I may have said too much...