PHY160 Projectile Assignment

Ange Joh'S Brondhol Fodjo Kontchou - A00153148

Instructions:

A group of physicists are preparing to fire a dart from the edge of a 92 ft tall cliff overlooking a
large, flat canyon. Their launcher is capable of firing the dart at a speed of 535 miles per hour.
The dart has been engineered to have virtually no air resistance when fired at this speed. Their
goal is to see how far they can get this dart to travel (horizontally) before it hits the ground. To
help them achieve this goal, please answer the following questions. Note that all questions
require detailed solutions where your job is not just to tell them the answers, but show them
how to do it and prove that the answer is correct.

Solutions:

Naming:
 Initial launch angle, θ
 Initial velocity, V0
 Time of flight, t
 Acceleration, ax, ay
 Velocity direction Vx, Vy
 Height of cliff, h
 Range, R
 Final Velocity direction Vfy, Vfx
 Initial Velocity direction V0y, V0x

Data:
 V0 = 535 miles per hour
 H0 = 92 feet
 ay = -g = -9.8 m/s2
 No air resistance

Convention (see convention tables below):

 V0 = 535 miles per hour =860.99904 km/hrs =239.1664 m/s
 H0 = 92 feet = 28.042 m

Table 01: convention tables (from textbook)

1) At what angle should they aim the launcher to make this projectile travel the farthest?

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Ans:

To achieve the maximum horizontal distance (range), the optimal angle for launching a
projectile with no air resistance is not 45 degrees, given the same initial speed and acceleration
due to gravity for a projectile launch at the edge of a tall cliff since it is not on a plane surface.

Assume the projectile is fired at angle θ with initial speed V0.

 The horizontal and vertical initial velocities are;

V0x = V0.cos (θ ),

V0y= V0.sin (θ ).

Assume the cliff has a height of h.

 The time it takes to hit the ground is calculated by:

1
-h = V0y.t - .g.t 2
2

 Solving this quadratic for t and taking the positive time solution yields:

V 0 y + √ V 0 y 2 +2 gh
t=
g

 Then the distance the projectile will travel as a function of θ is:

V 0 y + √ V 0 Y 2+ 2 gh V sin (θ)+ √ (V 02 sin2 (θ)+2 gh)

s (θ ) = V0x.t = V0x { }= V0cos(θ). { 0 }
g g

 We can simplify this by defining z = V0cos(θ).

Assuming θ is in the first quadrant, which is physically reasonable,

V0sin(θ) = √ V 02−z 2.

 Substituting into the equation for s yields to

s(z) = z { √
V 02−z 2+ √ V 02−z 2 +2 gh
}.
g

 The optimal angle will occur at an extremum for s(z), so we take the derivative with respect
to z and using the chain and product rule we obtain the following,

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 2
ds 1 1 1 z −1 −1
= [(V 2−z 2 ) 2 + (V 2−z 2 +2 gh) 2 ¿ - [(V 2−z 2 ) 2 + (V 2−z 2 +2 gh) 2 ]
dz g 0 0 g 0 0

ds
 We want to solve and simplify the above for z2 at = 0.
dz
2 2
V 0 (V 0 +2 g h)
z2 = 2 .
2(V 0 +g h).

√
2
(V 0 +2 gh)
 Thus, cos(θ) = 2
.
(2 V 0 + 2 gh)

For verification, we introduce h = 0, this reduces to the familiar cos(θ) =

h very large, cos(θ)≅ 1, so θ≅ 0.
√ 1
2
π
, so θ = . So, for
4

Therefore, for this problem, the maximum angle at h = 28.042 m will be at θ≅ 44.863o.

2) If they fire at that angle, how long will the projectile stay airborne?

Ans:

 To find the time the projectile stays airborne, we need to consider both the horizontal and
vertical components of the motion.

 The initial vertical velocity component, V0y

V0y= V0.sin (θ )= 239.166 m/s * sin (44.863) = 168.711 m/s

 The initial horizontal velocity component, V0x

V0x = V0.cos (θ )= 239.166 m/s* cos (44.863) = 169.520 m/s

 The time of flight (t) can be found using the vertical motion equation and substituting a and
h by our values which gives:

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 −v Oy ± √ v 20 +2 g h
y −168.711± √ 168.711 2+2(9.8)(28.042)
t= = =
−g −9.8
−168.711 ± √168.711 +2(9.8)(28.042)
2

−9.8

→ t = 34.596, -0.165 s

Taking the positive root, t = 34.596 s

3) What is the maximum horizontal distance they can reach with this setup?

Ans:

 The horizontal distance (R) can be calculated using the transpose formulas of velocity in
terms of projectile motion which gives;

R= V0x .t = (169.520 m/s) (34.596 s) = 5864.714 m =19241.187 ft

4) To ensure the dart is built strong enough to be reused, they want to know how fast it will be
travelling when it finally hits the ground. What is the speed (direction is irrelevant) it will
have upon impact?

Ans:

 The speed upon impact can be found using the Pythagorean theorem that is combining the
horizontal and vertical components of the velocity at impact.

 The vertical velocity at impact, Vfy

Vfy= V0y – g.t = 168.711 m/s - (9.8 m/s2*34.596 s) = -170.3298 m/s = 170.3298 m/s due to the
action of gravity downward (see fig 01).

 The horizontal velocity, Vfx remains constant;

Vfx= V0x = 169.520 m/s

 The total speed upon impact (Vf)

Vf = √ V fy 2+V fx2 =√ 170.3298 2+169.520 2 = 240.311 m/s = 788.421 ft/s

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Summary:

Optimal Angle: 44.863 degrees

Time of Flight: 34.596 seconds
Maximum Horizontal Distance: 5864.714 m = 19241.187 ft

Speed Upon Impact: 240.331 m/s = 788.421 ft/s

Figure 01: showing a change in vertical velocity

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