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captain
Oct4-07, 12:40 AM
1. The problem statement, all variables and given/known data
A canonball is launched up in the air with velocity v_0. There is air resistance, which is equal to kmv (where k is some proportionality constant and m is the mass of the canonball) and is proportional to the canonball's velocity. How long does it take to reach its maximum height.


2. Relevant equations



3. The attempt at a solution

I got t=ln(g)/k as the time. I would just like to verify if that is the correct solution. g=earth's gravitational acceleration constant.

Hootenanny
Oct4-07, 06:33 AM
Your answer is incorrect. Perhaps if you showed your working we could point you in the right direction...

captain
Oct4-07, 11:49 AM
Your answer is incorrect. Perhaps if you showed your working we could point you in the right direction...

i realize that my units are off by a lot. i realized that i get the total acceleration to be
-kv+g=(dv)/(dt), but when i try and integrate it by (dv)/(-kv+g)=dt i get incorrect units. is the g supposed to stay on the other side of the equation. If so how can I integrate it? and after that I am not quite sure about how to use v_0 given to me?

captain
Oct4-07, 12:19 PM
i would like to verify if this is correct. I checked to make sure if it is in the right units.

t=-ln[(v_0/g)k +1]/k

learningphysics
Oct4-07, 12:25 PM
i would like to verify if this is correct. I checked to make sure if it is in the right units.

t=-ln[(v_0/g)k +1]/k

I'm getting exactly the same thing but without the minus sign.

I think the minus sign shouldn't be there because ln(positivenumber + 1) > 0... so with that minus sign there you'll get a negative time.

captain
Oct4-07, 06:00 PM
i got it in terms of my integration bounds for the integral with dv. i set the bounds from v to 0

learningphysics
Oct4-07, 06:07 PM
-kv+g=(dv)/(dt),

should you be using -kv - g... or are you using g = -9.8 instead of g = 9.8?

captain
Oct4-07, 06:33 PM
i see i was doing it wrong the whole time

captain
Oct4-07, 06:36 PM
i accidentally made the force in my free body diagram like this:

m(-a)=-f_drag-mg

i thought that since the acceleration was negative with respect to my reference frame, the -a was necessary when the right hand side of the equation took care of that.
thanks for your help.