- #1
Nightshade8
- 2
- 0
Hello, everyone. I've been working with this physics problem for about a week without much success, and this looked like a good place to get some help.
Here's the issue. I'm programming a game where the main character has the ability to move objects with telekinesis (by applying a constant force). It uses an entirely 2-dimensional physics engine.
However, it would be very difficult to control the objects if they accelerated directly towards the cursor. If the object had an initial velocity before the force was applied, or if there was some other force acting on the object (namely gravity), it would end up arcing around the cursor. I want to develop a system where the object accelerates at a specific angle so that it passes directly through the cursor.
I need a method to solve for the angle the object should accelerate at when under the control of the telekinesis. The magnitude of this force, the angle and magnitude of the object's current velocity, the angle and magnitude of the sum of all other forces, and the horizontal and vertical distances that must be covered are all known constants that would need to be entered into the equation.
You can see my work here (hopefully you can read it):
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/8269/tempyr6.png
The three circled equations near the bottom are as far as I could go before I got stuck. Even my graphing calculator wasn't able to solve for theta.
Hopefully you understood all that. If you have any suggestions for how to solve this, please tell me. I'm running out of ideas.
Here's the issue. I'm programming a game where the main character has the ability to move objects with telekinesis (by applying a constant force). It uses an entirely 2-dimensional physics engine.
However, it would be very difficult to control the objects if they accelerated directly towards the cursor. If the object had an initial velocity before the force was applied, or if there was some other force acting on the object (namely gravity), it would end up arcing around the cursor. I want to develop a system where the object accelerates at a specific angle so that it passes directly through the cursor.
I need a method to solve for the angle the object should accelerate at when under the control of the telekinesis. The magnitude of this force, the angle and magnitude of the object's current velocity, the angle and magnitude of the sum of all other forces, and the horizontal and vertical distances that must be covered are all known constants that would need to be entered into the equation.
You can see my work here (hopefully you can read it):
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/8269/tempyr6.png
The three circled equations near the bottom are as far as I could go before I got stuck. Even my graphing calculator wasn't able to solve for theta.
Hopefully you understood all that. If you have any suggestions for how to solve this, please tell me. I'm running out of ideas.
Last edited by a moderator: