Projectile Motion Problems- Find Angle

AI Thread Summary
The discussion focuses on calculating the angle made by the velocity vector of a projectile launched from a cliff. The projectile has an initial speed of 145 m/s at a 37° angle and a height of 165 m. The user initially used the wrong method by applying the tangent of vertical displacement to horizontal displacement instead of using the horizontal and vertical velocity components. After receiving clarification, the user acknowledges the mistake and understands the correct approach to find the angle using velocity vectors. The conversation emphasizes the importance of precise calculations in projectile motion problems.
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Homework Statement


(e) What is the angle made by the velocity vector with the horizontal?

A projectile is shot from the edge of a cliff h = 165 m above ground level with an initial speed of v0 = 145 m/s at an angle of 37.0° with the horizontal, as shown below:
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/3468/projectilelaunchox5.th.jpg http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php

Seconds in the air is 19.532760239244074174748994000901s
Range of total distance traveled is 2261.9356107635250879761691838034m
Final Velocity for x before it hits the ground: 115.80214895685746271118011659m/s
Final Velocity for y before it hits the ground: -104.15787198754492632443347614472m/s (upwards is positive)
Magnitude of final velocities (hypotenuse-more or less): 155.75300960174092250733936761367m/s

These are just other informations obtained throughout the problem.

Homework Equations


Trigonometry-sin/cos/tan


The Attempt at a Solution



Basically I used opposite divided by adjacent and then inverse tan it.
Tan θ = opp/adj
Tan θ = 165m/2261.9356107635250879761691838034m
θ = 4.172129598188136156302219438937°
Here is a picture of it, very slightly modified:
[img=http://img583.imageshack.us/img583/733/projectilelaunchangleik5.th.jpg] (the picture won't show up as image)

This did not come out as correct. If anyone can point out errors to find the correct answer, it would be appreciated.
 
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All those decimal places make it quite hard to follow (just a tip, if you want very precise answers, use the exact answer rather than a string of decimals) but the only mistake you made that I can quickly spot out is that you used

tan\theta=(vertical displacement) / (horizontal displacement)

rather you need to use the tangent for the horizontal and vertical velocity vectors to find the angle it makes with the horizontal.
 
Thanks. That was correct. I see what I did wrong. Thank you.
 
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