QB Throws Football: Speed, Angle, & Distance Needed to Catch

[ahsanmhamid]

a quaterback throws a football towards a reciever with an initial speed of 22m/s, at an angle of 34 degrees above the horizontal. At that instant, the reciever is 21 m from the quarterback. The acceleration of gravity is 9.8 m/s ^2. WIth what constant speed should the reciever run in order to catch the football at the level at which it was thrown? Answer in units of m/s.

 

[TimNguyen]

What are the important equations for projectile motion? There should be two you should be using, one for the horizontal direction and one for the vertical.

 

[Vijay Bhatnagar]

Applying the equations determine range R and time of flight T of the football. To catch the football, the reciever must cover a distance (21 - R) m in time equal to time of flight T. Speed of reciever = (21-R)/T.

 

[ahsanmhamid]

what does the variable R represent?

 

[Vijay Bhatnagar]

R represents the horizontal distance covered by the projectile.