Le 30/11/2010 17:31, scott nous fit lire :
> Maybe some of you remember the problem from basic vector math class,
> where a boat must travel across a flowing river to a certain point, and
> you need to calculate which direction the boat should point.
> 
> The captain of a certain boat is not so clever though, and just aims his
> boat straight at the destination, of course the boat starts to get
> pushed off course by the river current, but the captain keeps the boat
> pointed at the destination at all times.  Eventually (assuming the boat
> can overcome the river current) the boat reaches the destination.  What
> shape curve did the boat trace out?
> 
> 

It would be some sheared tractrix (dog-curve), I presume.
(the shearing is due to the change of referential, as instead of the
target moving very slowly perpendicular to the boat direction, it's in
fact the boat which get drift away perpendicularly by the river)

Instead of a river, put the destination on a road, the boat on a lake,
and you get a tractrix.

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