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cruelty_free
Sep15-04, 02:37 AM
A small steel ball bearing with a mass of 12.0g is on a short compressed spring. When aimed vertically and suddenly released, the spring sends the bearing to a height of 1.41m. Calculate the horizontal distance the ball would travel if the same spring were aimed 32 degrees for the horizontal.

I found the initial velocity by pluging it into v^2 = V0^2 + 2a(x -x0) which was 5.24m/s, but I'm at a loss of how to proceed from there.

arildno
Sep15-04, 04:49 AM
Welcome to PF!
Does it make sense to you that the ball's initial speed must be V0 in the second case?

cruelty_free
Sep15-04, 04:53 AM
thanx! yes it does.... I ended up using the equation R= (5.24)^2 sin(2(32 degrees)) / 9.8 but I'm still a lil unsure if that is right because it does not use the mass at all.

arildno
Sep15-04, 07:03 AM
Since the force of gravity is the only force during the motion, and that the said force is proportional to the object's mass, it follows from Newton's 2.law that the motion is independent of the mass