Question

A woman throws a javelin 35 mph at an angle 30 degrees from the ground. Neglecting wind resistance or the height the javelin thrower, how fast will the javelin strike the ground?

Answer 1

Answer:

35 mph

Explanation:

The key of this problem lies in understanding the way that projectile motion works as we are told to neglect the height of the javelin thrower and wind resistance.

When the javelin is thown, its velocity will have two components: a x component and a y component. The only acceleration that will interact with the javelin after it was thown will be the gravety, which has a -y direction. This means that the x component of the velocity will remain constant, and only the y component will be affected, and can be described with the constant acceleration motion properties.

When an object that moves in constant acceleration motion, the time neccesary for it to desaccelerate from a velocity v to 0, will be the same to accelerate the object from 0 to v. And the distance that the object will travel in both desaceleration and acceleration will be exactly the same.

So, when the javelin its thrown, it willgo up until its velocity in the y component reaches 0. Then it will go down, and it will reach reach the ground in the same amount of time it took to go up and, therefore, with the same velocity.