Trajectory Definition and 446 Threads

I wrote a game with a rocket that orbits a planet, and you can change the orbit with thrusters. As part of it I draw the predicted orbit for the rocket. To do this I compute the eccentricity vector, then the eccentricity e, then the major and minor axis of the ellipse or hyperbola as...

Homework Statement I am trying to calculate the velocity of the pendulum at the bottom of the trajectory. Mass of the ball - 2.0 kg Height - .2 m G - 9.8 m/s^2 Homework Equations PE = mgh He mentioned something about the tangential force, I'm really not sure what I should be doing...

Hello everybody :) I need some help in an experiment simulation :) If you will make a pendulum with a spring instead of a string or rope (nonelastic), then bend it over on θ angle and then let it go - it will start to oscillate around with different manner than a simple pendulum :) with...

Homework Statement Two acrobats, each of 72.0 kg, launch themselves together from a swing, holding hands. Their velocity at launch was 6.80 m/s and the angle of their initial velocity relative to the horizontal was 32.0 degrees upwards. At the top of their trajectory, their act calls for...

Homework Statement A pirate ship is on a waterfall above a fort. The height of the waterfall is 200m above the fort. The pirate captain fires a cannon with an initial velocity 40m/s at angle of 40 degrees. If the cannonball makes a direct hit on the fort, how far away(horizontally) was the...

Hi, first sorry for my bad English, I am more skilled to read than to write in English I don't know if this is the right section for this topic. The problem is described in the title of the topic. My guess is that each of the two wheels goes on with circular trajectory around a same...

Homework Statement A car is drove off a cliff at 8 m/s. it lands in the sea 3 seconds later. Homework Equations a) how far does it land? b)how high is the cliff? (g = 10m/s^2) c) at what angle relative to the horizontal does it land? The Attempt at a Solution convention chosen : upwards is...

Hi, first post here at PF :) I have a problem here regarding orbit propagation. Basically my situation is as follows: I have coded a system that can track the orbital parameters from an object in a simulated orbit (Basic rigidbody physics). The system takes the state vectors of the orbiting...

Hello, I'm trying to simulate a projectile movement (without any air friction). But my projectile parameters are not conventional. I know : The initial height (y0) The initial velocity (v0) The maximum horizontal travel distance (d) The maximum height (h) I need to find ...

In my lecture they give the phase space picture for a simple pendulum http://mathematicalgarden.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/pendulum-portrait3.png?w=500&h=195 and then say that adjacent trajectories never diverge and therefore evolution is predictable. I wanted to ask, is the statement that...

I get different result than stated in the book. What am I doing wrong? Homework Statement A spacecraft returning from a lunar mission approaches Earth on a hyperbolic trajectory. At its closest approach A it is at an altitude of 5000 km, traveling at 10 km/s. At A retrorockets are fired to...

Why is it that an electron traveling under the influence of a magnetic field (i.e electron going from left to right and B field going into the page) will travel in the arc of a circle yet when an electric field alone is applied (say up page and the direction of motion of the electron is the...

Hi guys, I have some questions about this equation that my class were given before carrying out our practical for projectile motion (what we did was release a marble from the top of an inclined ramp and then when it hits the board which has a piece of carbon paper on it, a mark is left on a...

Could one deduce mathematically the inverse-square nature of the law of gravity from measurement of the parabolic trajectory of a given projectile in earthbound flight? Could one further deduce the entire law itself from the same? IH

Homework Statement Determine the possible trajectories of a particle into the following central potential: U(r)=U_0 for r< r_0 and U(r)=0 for r>r_0.Homework Equations Not sure. What I used: Lagrangian+Euler/Lagrange equations.The Attempt at a Solution I used polar coordinates but I'm not sure...

OK, having been researching this of late, I've come to the conclusion it is far more complex than I first thought! So I guess without further ado, I'll jump into explaining my problem... Aim: Having established a set of initial conditions, I would like to be plot the trajectory of a...

I think this is a simple question but I cannot find the answer on the Internet. What trajectory would have a bullet if fired in a straight line towards space from the equator? 1- Assuming there is NO gravity involved, 2- Considering that the bullet is going at a constant velocity, 3-...

Homework Statement An anti aircraft gun with initial velocity 400m/s at angel theta above the horizontal, and the shells may be assumed to move freely under gravity. The target is a pilotless aircraft which flies at a speed of 100m/s directly towards the gun at a constant height of 3500m. A...

Hey guys, I constructed a function that describes the ballistic trajectory of an object with a given velocity and angle. This is what it looks like: y=tan(a)x+gx^2/(2(cos(a)v)^2) [SIZE="1"]'x' and 'y' are the x- and y-positions of the object in flight. 'v' is the velocity and 'a' the angle...

Hi, I currently have this problem to solve, and I'm quite stuck. I would much appreciate it if anyone could point me in the direction on how to solve it. This is my go at it, although currently I don't have access to MATLAB until tomorrow as the university library has now closed...

Homework Statement An object is traveling N59.5E at 5.5 m/s It experiences an acceleration of 4.4 m/s^2, S76.6E for 1.5 Seconds When it ends it proceeds for 2.6 seconds with no acceleration Then is experiences a second acceleration of 4.4 m/s^2, N59.5E for 2.1 seconds I need to find out...

which is more accurate in determining the initial speed of the ball ballistic method or trajectory method??

Homework Statement A particle with mass 10kg starts from rest at r = 10 and θ=0 radians, following the trajectory given by r=10-2t , θ=0.2t. Find the radial and angular components and of the force, as functions of time, that will cause this motion Homework Equations I am unsure what...

I have an assignment where I have to build a catapult that is able to launch a bean bag any distance between 8-12 metres. My teacher will give me a random distance on the day it's due, and I have to be able to adjust the catapult in order for it to launch that distance. I'm having a bit of a...

I was reading an article about robotics stuff and I came across with this word "phase trajectory". I know what the phase plot is but what are trajectory and phase trajectory and is there any difference between them? Regards

I want to make a simple little video game with spaceships in it. The game only takes place in 2 dimensions, although I suspect any math would be applicable to more dimensions. The spaceships: - Have a set turning speed (radians/sec, different ships may be able to turn faster or slower) -...

Homework Statement Hello, I have an issue regarding projectile trajectory. As an assigment we have made a trebuchet, which is basically a catapult with a sling attached to it. We have done some measurements with the trebuchet itself, and have actually achievement some (according to us)...

Homework Statement http://bit.ly/eLdDK6 Look at this diagram. Given the following information, can someone help me answer the question Mass of counter weight = 760 kg Mass of projectile in arm of trebuchet = 55 kg distance of counter weight from ground = 5 m distance projectile rises...

Homework Statement Recently I met a Mathcad calculation plotting bicycle path traveled. Initial positions of tire tracks are known, their increments were calculated with bike speed 'v', wheelbase 'p', and steering angle 'a' so via ODE system solving front and rear tracks coordinates were...

I'm simulating helicopter dynamics but would like to better visualize the behavior of the helicopter and so I'm looking for some existing software solution. Ideally this would be similar to an aircraft simulator which would be rather taking position and attitude time series as input instead of...

Homework Statement You have been employed by the local circus to plan their human cannonball performace. For this act, a spring-loaded cannon will shoot a human projectile, the Great Flyinski, across the big top to a ew below. The net is located 5.0 m lower than the muzzle of the cannon from...

I'm in the process of created a computer game and I want to introduce a mortar into the game. What I want to do is given the initial position, target position, and target height, calculate the force vector that is needed to launch the mortar so it hits the target height and target distance...

Homework Statement A football player attempts a 29-yd field goal. If he is able to impart a velocity u of 95 ft/sec to the ball, compute the minimum angle θ for which the ball will clear the crossbar of the goal. The crossbar is 10 ft above the ground. (Hint: Let m = tan θ.) Homework...

If a particle's trajectory is defined by the law x=acos[pt] and y=bsin[pt] where t is parameter of time then we have to prove that it's acceleration vector passes through the focus of the conic----ellipse in this case as can be clearly seen. If we write out the position vector in the vector...

Alright, I've been working on this on my spare time for the past few weeks, and have a solution that ~works~, but I'm not happy with at all. The general idea is to have two objects, A and B, where A's velocity and position are known, B's position and speed are known, but the direction B...

Hello :-) I'am trying to figure out how to describe a trajectory of an object as a function of time. The object is a spacecraft and it sets of from Earth, travels around the moon, and then heads back to Earth...

A particle with mass 10 kg starts from rest at r=10 and theta=0 radians, following a trajectory given by r=10-2t, theta = 0.2t. Find the radial and angular components Fr and Ftheta of the force, as functions of time, that will cause this motion. Please help me get started on this problem...

**!xxx Trajectory in a gravitational field Assume an object comes from infinity and passes by the sun at 2 solar radiuses from its center. Can you derive an equation describing the objects path using only escape velocities and C??

ok. I'm a sophomore in high school who knows nothing about differential equations except for what wikipedia and some other sources said. I seem to simply have the need to figure this out. I've been to wikipedia, which didn't help. Could someone please provide a walkthrough on how to the math...

Hello! I've started working on a project that involves some light weight aircrafts. I am not a physicist(not at all) at my origin, I'm more the computer science and mathematics kind of fellow . I need to determine an aircraft trajectory form a point ( longitude and latitude ) to another taking...

Homework Statement The problem says: A motorcycle daredevil is attempting to jump across 10 buses. The takeoff ramp makes an angle theta = 18 degrees above the horizontal, and the landing ramp is identical to the take off ramp. The buses are parked side by side and each bus is 2.74m wide. The...

The formula that is applied to falling objects with disregard to any exterior forces except gravity is : d=0.5(g)(t^2) Can it also be applied to decelerating bodies, such as cars, with disregard to friction? Such as a car with an initial velocity slowing down to 0 m/s over a distance of 50...

At a county fair, a boy takes his teddy bear on the giant Ferris wheel. Unfortunately, at the top of the ride, he accidentally drops his stuffed buddy. The wheel has a diameter of 14.6 m, the bottom of the wheel is 1.1 m above the ground and its rim is moving at a speed of 1.0 m/s. How far from...

Homework Statement An electron with an initial velocity of 5.6x107 m/s in the x-direction moves along a trajectory that takes it directly between the center of two 20 cm x 20 cm plates separated by 1 cm. The plates are connected to a high voltage power supply so that the potential difference...

Does the mass of a cannon affect the speed at which the ball will leave the barrel? If you produce two equal explosions -- one in which the cannon sits on a frictionless surface, and one in which it is bolted to the ground -- will the cannonball fly further when it is bolted? How would you...

Homework Statement So, we have a physics project, in which we must build a water balloon launcher and launch the balloon at a stationary target about 50 yds away (normally we use meter, however we are firing on a football field). I have created my launcher (it is basically a slingshot), but...

Homework Statement Well, I must express this trajectory: \vec{r}=(t^2,2t,t^2) as an intersection of two surfaces. I really don't know how to work this. It seems to be some kind of parabola, but I'd really like to see some step by step for solving this. Bye, and thanks off course.

Trajectory Graphs?? Homework Statement The trouble I'm having is with determining what information I can get from a trajectory graph and how that information differs from what I can find on a position vs. time graph. Is the acceleration I find just the rate of change in the direction of...

So it is my understanding from my book that the information that we can get from a trajectory graph is the direction of velocity, but not the magnitude of velocity. If the tangent line to a point on a trajectory graph just gives the direction of velocity, why can the trajectory graph still be...

Homework Statement See picture Homework Equations Trajectory equation and total time of flight The Attempt at a Solution Okay what would be the best way to approach this? should i find out the distance the ball goes? then subtract 35m to to get my length of hill and use that for...