Question

A father demonstrates projectile motion to his children by placing a pea on his fork's handle and rapidly depressing the curved tines, launching the pea to heights above the dining room table. Suppose the pea is launched at 7.39 m/s at an angle of 69.0° above the table. With what speed (in m/s) does the pea strike the ceiling 1.90 m above the table?

Answer 1

Answer:

4.17 m/s

Explanation:

To solve this problem, let's start by analyzing the vertical motion of the pea.

The initial vertical velocity of the pea is

$u_y = u sin \theta = (7.39)(sin 69.0^{\circ})=6.90 m/s$

Now we can solve the problem by applying the suvat equation:

$v_y^2-u_y^2=2as$

where

$v_y$ is the vertical velocity when the pea hits the ceiling

$a=g=-9.8 m/s^2$ is the acceleration of gravity

s = 1.90 is the distance from the ceiling

Solving for $v_y$,

$v_y = \sqrt{u_y^2+2as}=\sqrt{(6.90)^2+2(-9.8)(1.90)}=3.22 m/s$

Instead, the horizontal velocity remains constant during the whole motion, and it is given by

$v_x = u cos \theta = (7.39)(cos 69.0^{\circ})=2.65 m/s$

Therefore, the speed of the pea when it hits the ceiling is

$v=\sqrt{v_x^2+v_y^2}=\sqrt{2.65^2+3.22^2}=4.17 m/s$