Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Physics: Projectile Problem?

In these types of problems, it's key to know that the horizontal motion and the vertical motion are totally independent. The horizontal motion will continue exactly the same whether it's falling off a cliff or continuing on a road. So you can easily find the time it will be airborne because you know how far it traveled horizontally (134 m) and how fast it is going (23.2 m/s). The answer will be in seconds. Now use that time in the vertical direction. The vertical motion is the same if it's falling straight down or falling down while still traveling horizontally. That's this business about the two being decoupled or independent or whatever words your teacher used. So just solve a falling down problem. You know the acceleration due to gravity is 9.81 m/s^2 and you know how long it is falling from the first part of the problem. So figure out the height. I bet they have given you the equation for that simpler problem some time ago.

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