Thank you all.
I think you must be right in that my prof. was looking for the angle as a function of v when v is below the critical value. Such trouble I make for myself!
Please help; I think my professor might be wrong,
A cart travels toward an inelastic barrier at a constant speed v. On the cart is a pendulum that is not oscillating before the collision. (It is hanging straight down and traveling at the same speed as the cart.)
The cart then collides...