At the end of the spring term, a high school physics class celebrates by shooting a bundle of exam papers into the town landfill with a homemade catapult. They aim for a point that is 31.1 m away and at the same height from which the catapult releases the bundle. The initial horizontal velocity component is 5.87 m/s.
a) What is the initial velocity component in the vertical direction?
b) What is the launch angle? (in degrees)
The range for a projectile is
R = v^2/g sin2θ
Now, 5.87/v = cosθ
v = 5.87 secθ
31.1 = 5.872/9.8 sec2θ * 2sinθcosθ
4.4227 = tanθ
θ = 77.26°
v = 26.62