Solving a Trajectory Problem Involving a Watermelon

[MEAHH]

Homework Statement

A truck loaded with cannonball watermelons stops suddenly to avoid running over the edge of a washed-out bridge (see figure). The quick stop causes a number of melons to fly off the truck. One melon rolls over the edge with an initial speed vi = 10.0 m/s in the horizontal direction. A cross-section of the bank has the shape of the bottom half of a parabola with its vertex at the edge of the road, and with the equation y^2= 16x, where x and y are measured in meters. What are the x and y coordinates of the melon when it splatters on the bank?

How would u start to solve this?

Homework Equations

vi=10.0m/s y^2=16x

The Attempt at a Solution

umm...ax=0,ay=-g

 

[RyanSchw]

If I were you, I’d start off by drawing a picture.

<br /> y^2 = 16x <br />

isn’t very helpful in this instance, how could you get a better picture of the ground. Once you know what the ground looks like it becomes easier to see where the path of the watermelon intersects the cliff.

How would you find out then where it lands?