Question

A 58.0-kg projectile is fired at an angle of 30.0° above the horizontal with an initial speed of 140 m/s from the top of a cliff 132 m above level ground, where the ground is taken to be y = 0. (a) What is the initial total mechanical energy of the projectile? (Give your answer to at least three significant figures.) 4060 J (b) Suppose the projectile is traveling 99.2 m/s at its maximum height of y = 336 m. How much work has been done on the projectile by air friction? J (c) What is the speed of the projectile immediately before it hits the ground if air friction does one and a half times as much work on the projectile when it is going down as it did when it was going up? m/

Answer 1

(a) $6.43\cdot 10^5 J$

The total mechanical energy of the projectile at the beginning is the sum of the initial kinetic energy (K) and potential energy (U):

$E=K+U$

The initial kinetic energy is:

$K=\frac{1}{2}mv^2$

where m = 58.0 kg is the mass of the projectile and $v=140 m/s$ is the initial speed. Substituting,

$K=\frac{1}{2}(58 kg)(140 m/s)^2=5.68\cdot 10^5 J$

The initial potential energy is given by

$U=mgh$

where g=9.8 m/s^2 is the gravitational acceleration and h=132 m is the height of the cliff. Substituting,

$U=(58.0 kg)(9.8 m/s^2)(132 m)=7.5\cdot 10^4 J$

So, the initial mechanical energy is

$E=K+U=5.68\cdot 10^5 J+7.5\cdot 10^4 J=6.43\cdot 10^5 J$

(b) $-1.67 \cdot 10^5 J$

We need to calculate the total mechanical energy of the projectile when it reaches its maximum height of y=336 m, where it is travelling at a speed of v=99.2 m/s.

The kinetic energy is

$K=\frac{1}{2}(58 kg)(99.2 m/s)^2=2.85\cdot 10^5 J$

while the potential energy is

$U=(58.0 kg)(9.8 m/s^2)(336 m)=1.91\cdot 10^5 J$

So, the mechanical energy is

$E=K+U=2.85\cdot 10^5 J+1.91 \cdot 10^5 J=4.76\cdot 10^5 J$

And the work done by friction is equal to the difference between the initial mechanical energy of the projectile, and the new mechanical energy:

$W=E_f-E_i=4.76\cdot 10^5 J-6.43\cdot 10^5 J=-1.67 \cdot 10^5 J$

And the work is negative because air friction is opposite to the direction of motion of the projectile.

(c) 88.1 m/s

The work done by air friction when the projectile goes down is one and a half times (which means 1.5 times) the work done when it is going up, so:

$W=(1.5)(-1.67\cdot 10^5 J)=-2.51\cdot 10^5 J$

When the projectile hits the ground, its potential energy is zero, because the heigth is zero: h=0, U=0. So, the projectile has only kinetic energy:

E = K

The final mechanical energy of the projectile will be the mechanical energy at the point of maximum height plus the work done by friction:

$E_f = E_h + W=4.76\cdot 10^5 J +(-2.51\cdot 10^5 J)=2.25\cdot 10^5 J$

And this is only kinetic energy:

$E=K=\frac{1}{2}mv^2$

So, we can solve to find the final speed:

$v=\sqrt{\frac{2E}{m}}=\sqrt{\frac{2(2.25\cdot 10^5 J)}{58 kg}}=88.1 m/s$