Question

A ball is launched from ground level at 20 m/s at an angle of 40° above the

Answer 1

(a) The ball's height y at time t is given by

y = (20 m/s) sin(40º) t - 1/2 g t ²

where g = 9.80 m/s² is the magnitude of the acceleration due to gravity. Solve y = 0 for t :

0 = (20 m/s) sin(40º) t - 1/2 g t ²

0 = t ((20 m/s) sin(40º) - 1/2 g t )

t = 0   or   (20 m/s) sin(40º) - 1/2 g t = 0

The first time refers to where the ball is initially launched, so we omit that solution.

(20 m/s) sin(40º) = 1/2 g t

t = (40 m/s) sin(40º) / g

t ≈ 2.6 s

(b) At its maximum height, the ball has zero vertical velocity. In the vertical direction, the ball is in free fall and only subject to the downward acceleration g. So

0² - ((20 m/s) sin(40º))² = 2 (-g) y

where y in this equation refers to the maximum height of the ball. Solve for y :

y = ((20 m/s) sin(40º))² / (2g)

y ≈ 8.4 m