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AirForceOne
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Suppose we have a cannon at a height of 3 ft and want the projectile to hit the ground a distance d=200ft downfield. The launch speed v0 is 100ft/s. What is the minimum needed launch angle and the corresponding total time of flight?
I wasn't able to figure this problem out, so I looked at the answer. The answer is 19.06 degrees and 2.116 seconds. Using these values in the kinematic equations, I calculated that at x=200 ft, the height of the projectile is y=50ft. When x=200ft, shouldn't y=0ft? I thought the problem is asking to find the "smallest angle needed to hit the ground 200 ft downfield". I don't understand the meaning of minimum/maximum. To me, the projectile either hits (200,0) or it doesn't. If the problem gives us the initial velocity, shouldn't there only be one value of the angle to hit (200,0) instead of multiple like the words "minimum/maximum angle" is suggesting?
EDIT: I just realized that the problem could be asking for the smallest angle for the projectile to reach the distance of 200ft.That is, it's okay if the projectile overshoots the 200ft. However, wouldn't that mean finding the angle to produce the max distance? So the angle would be 45? But that's different from the correct answer of 19.06...I'm going crazy.
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