How high does a projectile shot at 1.30×10⁴ km/hr go?

Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
8 replies · 7K views
tibessiba
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
Is this projectile motion??

Homework Statement



A projectile is shot straight up from the Earth's surface at a speed of 1.30×104 km/hr.

How high does it go?



Is this just a projectile motion problem? Or is it different because it has something to do with the theory of gravity? (because that is the section we are on in class).
 
Physics news on Phys.org
I think you mean 1.30*10^4km/hr, but I could be wrong. If so then it is fast enough that you can't take g=constant. So it's a gravity problem. It might be handy to know something about conservation of energy.
 
Ok, then you just need to know an expression for gravitational potential energy that is more general than mgh.
 
I think it's a free-fall motion problem. You use the UAM (uniformly accelerated motion) formula d = (Vf^2 - Vi^2) / 2g, but make sure that g is negative since the projectile was shot upwards.
 
Rylynn97 said:
I think it's a free-fall motion problem. You use the UAM (uniformly accelerated motion) formula d = (Vf^2 - Vi^2) / 2g, but make sure that g is negative since the projectile was shot upwards.

Wrong, the projectile is moving at nearly orbital velocity. You can't take 'g' constant.
 
Use conservation of energy principle.
KE = 1/2.mv^2
PE= GMm/(R + h). Substitute GM = gR^2. Find the value of h