Projectile Questions: Calculate Velocity and Height of Golf Ball | Help Needed

[mcintyre_ie]

Hey
I need a little help with another projectile question, id be very obliged if anybody could provide some:

(A) A golf ball at rest on horizontal ground is struck so that it starts to move with velocity 3u I + u j ( “I” and “j” are unit vectors along and perpendicular to the ground) . In its flight, the ball rises to a max height of 15 m. Calculate:
(i) The value of u
(ii) The magnitude and direction of the velocity with which the ball strikes the ground.

(i) What I've got is Sy = 15m, when Vy = 0, time when Vy = 0 is (u/g).
I then subbed this into Sy= ut - (1/2)gt^2 = 15 and got u =
√294.

(ii) Velocity, when Sy=0.
Time when Sy=0 is (2u/g)

I then subbed this into my Vx (3u) and Vy (u - gt) equations to get √2646i - √1176 j.

Im wondering wheter this answer is right, it just doesn't sound right to me, the negative j-value maybe is a bit off?

I then got the Tan of (-√294 / √2646) = -1/3 = -18degrees 26 minutes.
I interpreted this as being E18.26.S, which I am not too sure about and is a partial guess.

Part (B) is where I am really getting stuck:

A particle is projected from a point p with an initial speed 15m/s, down a plane inclined at an angle 30 degrees to the horizontal. The direction of projection is at right angles t the inclined plane. (The plane of projection is vertical and contains the line of greatest slope), Find:
(i) the perpindicular height of the particle above the plane after t seconds and hence, or otherwise, show that the vertical height h of the particle above the plane after t seconds is 10√3t - 4.9t^2.
(ii) The greatest vertical heigt it attains above the plane (the max value of h) correct to two places of decimals.

Ive figured from my sketch that the perpindicular height above the plane is (Sy/cos 30). I am not too sure about how i should go about getting the Ux and Uy though, since the particle is fired at right angles to the plane.
http://community.webshots.com/s/image2/1/11/95/94311195xlEyTI_ph.jpg

from the question i know that Uy is 10-√3, but I am assuming I've got to prove that also. Thats about all I've gotten so far.

I'd appreciate any help, and sorry about the crappy diagram...

 

[mcintyre_ie]

Any help would be very much appreciated...

 

[HallsofIvy]

It would have helped if you had stated that "Sy" was the height of the ball and Vy the y coordinate of speed instead of just using the variables without definition.

i) What I've got is Sy = 15m, when Vy = 0, time when Vy = 0 is (u/g).
I then subbed this into Sy= ut - (1/2)gt^2 = 15 and got u =
ã294.

Yes, that is correct.

I then subbed this into my Vx (3u) and Vy (u - gt) equations to get ã2646i - ã1176 j.

Im wondering wheter this answer is right, it just doesn't sound right to me, the negative j-value maybe is a bit off?

Your y-value looks to be twice the correct value. Since t= 2u/g,
u- gt= u- g(2u/g)= -u.

When the projectile hits the ground its x-component of velocity is still 3u but its y component is -y (because of the symmetry of the trajectory). Of course, tan(θ)= -u/3u= -1/3. I get θ= 18 degres 24 minutes approx.

A particle is projected from a point p with an initial speed 15m/s, down a plane inclined at an angle 30 degrees to the horizontal. The direction of projection is at right angles t the inclined plane. (The plane of projection is vertical and contains the line of greatest slope), Find:
(i) the perpindicular height of the particle above the plane after t seconds and hence, or otherwise, show that the vertical height h of the particle above the plane after t seconds is 10ã3t - 4.9t^2.
(ii) The greatest vertical heigt it attains above the plane (the max value of h) correct to two places of decimals.

Yeah, I can see how this would be hard. The way I would do this would be to treat the particle as a regular projectile following a hyperbolic trajectory. Since the inclined plane is 30 degrees down from the horizontal, the initial velocity of the particle is 60 degrees up (so that 60+30=90 is the angle between the plane and the initial speed). The intitial velocity of the particle is given by
Vx= 15 cos(60)= (1/2)15= 7.5 m/s, Vy= 15 sin(60)= 7.5 √(3) m/s.
The position (measured from the initial point) at any t is Sx= 7.5t and Sy= 7.5 √(3) t- 4.9 t².

Now look at the inclined plane. Since it is inclined 30 degrees downward its slope is tan(-30)= -1/√(3). Its equation is
y= (-1/√(3))x.

The height of the particle above the plane is "height of particle - height of plane"= 7.5 √(3)t- 4.9t²+ (1/√(3))(7.5t)

 

[mcintyre_ie]

Thanks for the help
Sorry about not defining Sx, Vx, etc, I am just so used to using them all the time i just assumed everybody else was too
Thanks again