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Modern fountains are an excellent example of projectile motion. |
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Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons. |
Suppose you are designing a fountain that will shoot jets of water. The water jets will emerge from nozzles at the same level as the pool they fall into. If you want the jets to reach a height of 4.0 feet above the water's surface and to travel 6.0 feet horizontally (ignoring air resistance), with what velocity should the water leave the nozzles?
Solution
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We will imagine breaking the stream of water up into small pieces (think of water droplets making up the stream). We will examine the trajectory of one of the pieces, treating it as a |
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The system is in freefall (influenced only by the earth's gravity). |
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Projectile Motion : |
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We choose a coordinate system where the stream travels in the + x direction and the + y direction points upward. Further, we choose the surface of the fountain pool to be at the level y = 0 m and the nozzle to be at the point x = 0 m. We also choose t = 0 s at the instant of launch from the nozzle. We immediately run into a problem, however. The difficulty here is that we have information about three separate points.
Launch | Max Height | Landing |
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We use the fact that the vertical velocity goes to zero when the water reaches the maximum height to analyze one-dimensional freefall. You can see that this is still true for two-dimensional projectile motion by making a plot of y versus time. Note that the slope goes to zero (the curve is horizontal) at the maximum height. It is important to remember, however, that the x velocity is not zero at any point in 2-D projectile motion (it is a constant). |
One way that we can solve the problem is to separate the vertical and horizontal motions and treat them independently, as functions of time..
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We first analyze the motion from the launch point up to max height. For this portion of the motion, we can summarize our givens:
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{latex}
|!Fountain Drawing.png!|
{note}We use the fact that the vertical velocity goes to zero when the water reaches the maximum height to analyze one-dimensional freefall. You can see that this is still true for two-dimensional projectile motion by making a plot of *y* versus time. Note that the slope goes to zero (the curve is horizontal) at the maximum height. It is important to remember, however, that the *x* velocity is *not* zero at any point in 2-D projectile motion (it is a constant). {note}
One way that we can solve the problem is to separate the vertical and horizontal motions and treat them independently, as functions of time..
{cloak:givens}
{toggle-cloak:id=part1} {color:red}{*}Decompose the Problem{*}{color}
{cloak:id=part1}
We first analyze the motion from the launch point up to max height. For this portion of the motion, we can summarize our givens:
{panel:givens for upward motion}
{latex}
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We would like to solve for vy,i, since the problem is asking us for the initial launch velocity. The most direct approach is to use:
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{latex} {panel} We would like to solve for {*}v{~}y,i{~}{*}, since the problem is asking us for the initial launch velocity. The most direct approach is to use: {latex}\begin{large}\[ v_{y}^{2} = v_{y,{\rm i}}^{2} + 2 a_{y}(y-y_{\rm i}) \] \end{large}{latex} |
which
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becomes:
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}\begin{large} \[ v_{y,{\rm i}} = \pm \sqrt{-2 a_{y} y} = \pm \sqrt{-2 (-\mbox{9.8 m/s}^{2})(\mbox{1.22 m})} = \pm \mbox{4.9 m/s} \]\end{large}{latex} |
We
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choose
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the
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positive
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sign,
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since
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clearly
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the
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stream
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is
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moving
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upward
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at
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the
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instant
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of
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launch.
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Thus,
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}\begin{large} \[ v_{y,{\rm i}} = + \mbox{4.9 m/s}\]\end{large}{latex} {cloak:part1} { |
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Now we have to find the x velocity. The most direct way to do this is to now consider the entire motion as one part. If we take the whole trajectory, we have the givens:
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Note that it is the fact that both y and yi are 0 m for the full trajectory which forced us to first consider the upward portion. |
We would like to find vx, but we must first solve for the time by using the equation of motion in the y direction. The most direct way to obtain the time is to use:
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{latex} {panel}{info}Note that it is the fact that both *y* and {*}y{~}i{~}{*} are {*}0 m{*} for the full trajectory which forced us to first consider the upward portion. {info} We would like to find {*}v{~}x~{*}, but we must first solve for the time by using the equation of motion in the *y* direction. The most direct way to obtain the time is to use: {latex}\begin{large}\[ y(t) = y_{\rm i} + v_{y,{\rm i}}(t-t_{\rm i}) + \frac{1}{2}a_{y}(t-t_{\rm i})^{2} \]\end{large}{latex} |
this
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is
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simplified
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by
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substituting
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t
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i
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=
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0
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and
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y
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i
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=
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0
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:
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}\begin{large}\[ 0 = v_{y,{\rm i}} t + \frac{1}{2} a_{y} t^{2} \]\end{large}{latex} |
This
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reduced
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version
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can
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be
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solved
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without
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appealing
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to
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the
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quadratic
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equation
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(simply
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factor
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out
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a
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t
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):
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}\begin{large}\[ t = \mbox{0 s}\qquad\mbox{or}\qquad t = -\frac{2v_{y,{\rm i}}}{a_{y}} = \mbox{1.0 s} \] \end{large}{latex} |
We
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can
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rule
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out
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the
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t
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=
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0
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s
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solution,
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since
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that
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is
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simply
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reminding
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us
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that
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the
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water
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was
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launched
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from
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the
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level
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of
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the
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pool
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at
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t
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=
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0
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s
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.
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The
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water
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will
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return
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to
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the
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level
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of
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the
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pool
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1.0
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s
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after
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launch.
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With
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this
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information,
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we
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can
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solve
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for vx:
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{*}v{~}x~{*}: {latex}\begin{large}\[ x = x_{\rm i} + v_{x} (t-t_{\rm i}) \]\end{large}{latex} |
meaning:
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} \begin{large} \[ v_{x} = \frac{x}{t} = -\frac{x a_{y}}{2v_{y,{\rm i}}} = \mbox{1.8 m/s} \] \end{large}{latex} |
We
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are
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not
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finished
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yet,
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since
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we
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are
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asked
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for
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the
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complete
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initial
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velocity.
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The
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magnitude
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of
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the
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full
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velocity
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is
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}\begin{large} \[ v_{\rm i} = \sqrt{v_{y,{\rm i}}^{2} + v_{x}^{2}} = \mbox{5.2 m/s} \] \end{large}{latex} |
which
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allows
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us
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to
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draw
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the
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complete
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vector
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triangle:
and to find the angle
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!velvec.jpg! and to find the angle {latex}\begin{large} \[ \theta = \tan^{-1}\left(\frac{v_{y}}{v_{x}}\right) = 70^{\circ} \] \end{large}{latex} |
so
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the
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velocity
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should
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be
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5.2
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m/s
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at
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70°
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above
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the
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horizontal.
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{cloak:part2}||||||