3

Motion in Two and Three Dimensions  3.1

Motion in two and three dimensions

Exercises
Section 3.1 Vectors
17. Interpret We interpret this as a problem involving finding the magnitude and direction of a
(displacement) vector in two dimensions.
Develop In two dimensions, a displacement vector can generally be written as, in unit vector
notation, whereandare the x- and y-components of the displacements, respectively. The
magnitude ofisand the anglemakes with the +x axis is

We choose +x direction to correspond to east and +y for north.

Evaluate With the coordinate system established above, the components of the displacements are
(220 m, x) and (150 m, +y). Therefore, the magnitude of the displacementis

The direction ofis

Assess The displacement vectorlies in the second quadrant. It makes an angle of with the +x axis.
Alternatively, the direction of can be specified as 34.3 N of W, or 55.7 W of N, or by the azimuth
304.3 (CW from N), etc.
18. (a) The length of the semicircle is (b) The magnitude of the displacement vector, from the start of
the semicircle to its end, is just a diameter, or
19. Interpret We interpret this as a problem involving the addition of two displacement vectors in two
dimensions and finding the magnitude and direction of the resultant vector. The object of interest is
the migrating whale.
Develop Using Equation 3.1, we see that in two dimensions, a vectorcan be written as, in unit vector
notation,

whereandSimilarly, we express a second vectoras The resultant vector is

Evaluate From the problem statement, the first segment of the travel can be written in unit-vector
notation as (withand

Similarly, the second segment of the travel can be expressed as (withand

3.2 Chapter 3

Thus, the resultant displacement vector is

The magnitude ofis

and its direction is

We choose the latter solution since the vector (with ) lies in the second quadrant.

Assess As depicted in the figure, the resultant displacement vector lies in the second quadrant.
The direction ofcan be specified as CCW from the x-axis (east), or of W.
20. (a) Eight blocks east is 8 units, but three blocks north is units, so the total distance walked is 14
units. (b) The magnitude of your displacement vector is the hypotenuse of a right triangle, with
sides of 8 units and 6 units; its length is units.

21. Interpret We interpret this as a problem involving the addition of two vectors in two dimensions and
finding the magnitude and direction of the resultant vector.
Develop Using Equation 3.1, we see that in two dimensions, a vector can be written as, in unit
vector notation,where andSimilarly, we express a second vector as To satisfy the condition,we
simply set to be

Evaluate Let +x-direction correspond to the right and +y correspond to the vertically upward
direction. Then, Therefore,

The magnitude and direction of areand

We choose the latter solutionmeasured CCW from the +x-axis) since the vector (withlies in the
third quadrant. The angle of could also be specified as measured CW from the x-axis.
 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions  3.3

Assess The vectorsandform a 3-4-5 right triangle, as shown in the sketch. Therefore, and the
direction of measured CCW from the direction of is

22. Take the y axis 90 CCW from the x axis, as in Figs. 3.4 and 3.5. Then (Note: The component of
a vector along an axis is defined in terms of the cosine of the angle it makes with that axis. In two
dimensions, and

23. Interpret We interpret this as a problem involving finding the magnitude and direction of a vector in
two dimensions.
Develop Using Equation 3.1, we see that in two dimensions, a vector can be written as, in unit
vector notation, where and is the angle makes with the +x axis.
Evaluate From the problem statement, we find that and Therefore, the magnitude of is

and the angle is We choose the former solution ( measured CCW from the +x axis) since the
vector (withlies in the first quadrant.
Assess Since (i.e., the x component of is greater than the y component), we expect the angle to be
less than Our result indeed confirms this.
24. The same reasoning as in Exercise 23 shows that (a) the magnitude of is and that (b) the angle it
makes CCW from the x-axis is (Thus, is a unit vector midway between the x and y directions; see
Problem 58.)

Section 3.2 Velocity and Acceleration Vectors

25. Interpret This problem gives us an initial velocity, time, and final velocity. We need to find average
acceleration.
Develop Acceleration is We need the average acceleration, so use The change in velocityis the
difference in velocity before and after the rocket fires, so it will be helpful to put the velocities in
coordinate form. We will also need to change all values to SI units.
Start by sketching a diagram showing the initial and final velocities, as shown in the figure later.

Break the vectors into components, and find the change in velocityDivide this change by the time to
obtain the average acceleration.
Evaluate First convert the speeds to units of m/s. The time is 10 minutes, or
Next, express each vector in component form:

The change in velocity is the difference between the two:

Now find acceleration:

Assess It’s hard to estimate whether this acceleration is reasonable or not without knowing the
mass of the asteroid. Large rocket engines accelerate the space shuttle at about though, so it’s
probably about right.
3.4 Chapter 3

26.
27. Interpret We interpret this as a problem involving the addition of three displacements in two
dimensions and finding the magnitude and direction of the resultant vector. The key concepts here
are displacement and average velocity.
Develop Using Equation 3.1, we see that in two dimensions, a displacement vector can be written
as, in unit vector notation,

where and One may write down a similar expression for and The displacement vectoris related to
the velocity vector by We shall take a coordinate system with x axis east, y axis north, and
origin at the starting point.
Evaluate (a) The first segment of the trip which last, for can be written, in unit-vector notation,
as

Similarly, we have and the time spent on this segment is Finally, the third segment has length A
unit vector in the southwest direction is

Therefore,These displacements and their sum are shown in the figure. The total displacement is

(b) Since the total travel time is the average velocity for the trip is

Assess We expect bothandto be in the first quadrant since their components are all positive. Instead
of unit-vector notation,andcould be specified by their magnitudes and respectively, and common
direction, N of E.

28. At the hour, the tip of the minute hand has positionwhile at 20 min past the hour, it has position
cm. The average velocity is
 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions  3.5

29. Interpret We interpret this as a problem involving finding the change of velocity and the average
acceleration.
Develop The average acceleration is given by Equation 3.5,Therefore, the direction ofis the same
asthe change of velocity.
Evaluate Since the speed v is constant, we write the initial and final velocities as and whereis east
andis north. The change in velocity for the turn is

Thus, the direction of the average accelerationis the same as that of which is parallel to or
southwest.
Assess The angle betweenand the +x axis ismeasured CCW. The acceleration must have westbound
and southbound components because in order for the car to change its direction from eastbound to
southbound, there must be a westbound velocity component that exactly cancels out the initial
eastbound component. The remaining southbound component then determines the final direction of
the car.
30. The position and velocity of the tip of the hour hand are shown in the figure for 12 p.m. and 6 p.m.,
in the coordinate system specified. The magnitude of the position is a constant, namely, the
2.4-cm radius. The magnitude of the velocity is also constant, namely, the circumference divided
by 12 h, or (a)
(b)

31. Interpret We interpret this as a velocity addition problem that involves a constant acceleration
Develop Letbe the initial velocity, andbe the final velocity. As depicted in the figure, the relationship
betweenandis given by

The angle between and can be found by using the law of cosine.
Evaluate The law of cosines gives

When the given magnitudes are substituted, one can solve for

That is, the vectors and are collinear.

Assess In two dimensions, acceleration and velocity vectors generally need not be collinear. But
when they are (either parallel or anti-parallel), the change in speed would be maximal, as can be
3.6 Chapter 3

readily demonstrated graphically.

32. From Equation 3.8,

Section 3.3 Relative Motion

33. Interpret This is a problem involving relative velocities. The quantity of interest is the wind velocity
relative to the ground.
Develop Equation 3.7, is what we shall use to find the wind velocityHereis the velocity of the
jetliner relative to the ground, andis the velocity of the jetliner relative to the air. We shall take a
coordinate system with x axis east, y axis north.
Evaluate From the problem statement, the velocity of the jetliner relative to the ground is

Similarly, using the fact that the unit vector in the direction 15 west of south (255 CCW from
the +x axis) is the velocity of the jetliner relative to the air is

Thus, the wind velocity is

Assess The wind speed is and the anglemakes with the

x-axis is(north of east). The wind direction, by convention, is the direction facing the wind, in this
case S of W.

34. The current is perpendicular to the direction in which you wish to cross, as shown in the sketch. is
the current velocity (velocity of the water relative to the ground),is the velocity of the boat
relative to the ground, and is the velocity of the boat relative to the water. These three vectors
satisfy Equation 3.7. (a) Evidently,
sinorwhich is your heading upstream.
(b) is your speed across the river, so the crossing time is

35. Interpret This is a problem involving relative velocities. The quantity of interest is the velocity of
the jet stream relative to the ground.
Develop Equation 3.7, is what we shall use to find the velocity of the jet stream. Hereis the
velocity of the airplane relative to the ground, andis the velocity of the airplane relative to the air.
We shall take a coordinate system with x axis east, y axis north. The relationship betweenis shown
in the figure.
 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions  3.7

Evaluate We are given that the triangle is a right triangle, with and that the angle between the
airspeed and groundspeed is 32°, and the hypotenuse (magnitude of airspeed) is 370 km/h. From
trigonometry, the magnitude of the jet stream speed is

Assess The speed of the airplane relative to the ground is

The plane’s heading of north of east is a reasonable compensation for the southward wind blowing
at a speed of 196 km/h.
36. If the windspeed is perpendicular to the geese’s desired groundspeed, their airspeed must be
inclined upwind by
(See the diagram and the solution to Exercise 35 for a definition of terms.)

Section 3.4 Constant Acceleration

37. Interpret We interpret this as a problem involving finding the acceleration vectors in two
dimensions, with position vector given.
Develop The acceleration can be found by taking the second derivative of the position,
Evaluate The second derivative of is

in units of m/s2. The magnitude of is and the direction is or CW from the x-axis.
Assess We find the acceleration to be a constant vector. In general, a position vector in two
dimensions that is quadratic in t can be related to the velocity and acceleration vectors as

From the above expression, we see that the constant acceleration vector is equal to twice the
coefficient of the
t2 term.
38. Interpret We are given an initial velocity and a constant acceleration for a certain time, and we need
to find the displacement during that time.
Develop It’s constant acceleration, so we can use the techniques from Chapter 2, as long as we keep
track of the vector components of x, v, and a. We want the displacement, and we know initial
velocity and time, so use For simplicity, set the coordinates so that the initial direction isas shown
in the figure later. The magnitude of the acceleration isand the angle The initial velocity is
Evaluate The acceleration is so the net displacement during the gust is
3.8 Chapter 3

Assess Without the gust, the displacement would have beenso this larger displacement seems
reasonable.

Section 3.5 Projectile Motion

39. Interpret This is a problem involving projectile motion. The objects under consideration are the
apple and the peach, and the quantity of interest is the total flight time.
Develop We first note that the horizontal and vertical motions are independent of each other. The
time of flight t for either projectile is determined from the vertical component of the motion, which
is the same for both, since
Withwe can calculate t by solving Equation 3.13,
Evaluate From the above equation, the total flight time is found to be

Assess The apple and the peach both reach the ground at the same time. This is to be expected,
since the total flight time is determined by the equation of motion in the vertical direction. The
non-vanishing horizontal component of the velocity for the apple only makes it move further away
from you.
40. (a) The shingle reaches the ground when
 or 

(b) The horizontal displacement is

41. Interpret This is a problem involving projectile motion. The object under consideration is an arrow,
and the quantity of interest is the initial height from which it is fired.
Develop The horizontal and vertical motions of the arrows are independent of each other, and we can
consider them separately. The time of flight t of the arrow can be determined from its range
(horizontal motion, Equation 3.12). Once t is found, we can substitute the value into the equation of
motion for the vertical direction (Equation 3.13) to determine the initial height.
Evaluate From Equation 3.12, we find the total flight time of the arrow to be

Substituting the value into Equation 3.13, noting thatwe find the height to be
 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions  3.9

Assess Dropping a height of 1.5 m in half a second is reasonable for free fall. We may relateto x as

From the equation, it is clear that the greater the value ofthe longer it takes for the arrow to reach
the ground, and the greater the horizontal distance traveled.
42. From the time of flight can be found. Substitution into (recall thatyields for the distance fallen,
practically negligible. Note that this analysis is equivalent to using Equation 3.14 with
43. Interpret This is a problem involving projectile motion. The object under consideration is a proton,
and the quantity of interest is the average speed.
Develop The horizontal and vertical distances in projectile motion (range and drop) are related by
the trajectory Equation 3.14:

This is the equation we shall solve to find the initial speed

Evaluate With the above equation can be simplified towhich gives

This is the x-component of the velocity and it remains unchanged during the course of flight. The
y-component of the velocity is

Since it is negligible and is the approximate average speed.

Assess Traveling a distance of 1700 m with a drop of only indicates that the horizontal component
of the speed must be much greater than the vertical component. Withthe average speed can be
approximated as
44. For given v0, the horizontal range is inversely proportional to g. With surface gravities from
Appendix E, we find

Section 3.6 Uniform Circular Motion

45. Interpret This is a problem about uniform circular motion. The object of interest is the car and the
key concept involved here is centripetal acceleration.
Develop Given the radius and the acceleration, we may use Equation 3.16, to solve for the speed.
Evaluate Using Equation 3.16, and settingthe speed of the car is

Assess If the radius of the turn is kept fixed, then the only means to attain a higher centripetal
acceleration is to increase the speed. A centripetal acceleration of 1g is just within the capability of
autocross tires.
46. The centripetal acceleration is given in terms of the period for uniform circular motion by Equation
3.16 in Example 3.7. In the case of the Moon, where we used more accurate data from Appendix
E. (Note: “Centripetal” is a purely kinematic adjective descriptive of circular motion. In this case,
the origin of the Moon’s centripetal acceleration is the gravitational attraction of the Earth.)
47. Interpret We are asked to find the time it takes to go around a circle, knowing the centripetal
acceleration and the radius.
Develop We use to find the speed, and for the distance. We find the time by using The
accelerationis provided by gravity, which is 5.8% of the surface value, We have to be careful to
note that the radius r is the Earth’s radius plus the altitude, not just the altitude.
Evaluate 
3.10 Chapter 3

Assess Part of the expense of placing satellites in orbit is the difficulty in not only getting them to
altitude, but getting them moving fast enough so that they can stay in orbit.

Problems
48. Any two vectors and and their sumform a triangle. Ifis perpendicular tothe triangle is a right
triangle, and the magnitudes are related by the Pythagorean Theorem,
(a) For (b) For and

49. Interpret We interpret this as a problem involving adding two vectors in two dimensions to produce
a resultant vector which points in a certain direction.
Develop Using Equation 3.1, we see that in two dimensions, a vectorcan be written as, in unit vector
notation,whereandSimilarly, we express a second vectorasWe choose +x direction to correspond to
the right and +y to be the vertical direction. The resultant vector is

which points in the vertical direction.

Evaluate Using the fact thatis vertical with we find

or

The two possible solutions areor The former corresponds towhile the latter corresponds to The
results are depicted in the figure on the right.

Assess Since solutions are possible only ifIn the case where B  A, the above condition reduces to
This result can be readily verified with graphical constructions.
50. (Since and are specified in terms of unit vectors, this form is also appropriate for)
51. Interpret We interpret this as a problem involving finding the magnitude and direction of the average
velocity vector.
Develop Given two vectors and the displacement vector is given byThe average velocity vector is
The magnitude of is

Evaluate The displacement is
 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions  3.11

With the average velocity is

The magnitude ofis

Assess The typical size of bacteria is on the order of 1 micron, or In this example, the bacterium
has an average speed of 0.869This means that in one second it moves a distance which is
comparable to its own length. This is a reasonable result.
52. (a) The object’s position is given as a function of time, so whenthis is where we explicitly
displayed the units of the coefficients in the intermediate step. (b) Since the average velocity for
this interval is (c) The instantaneous velocity at any time is (see Appendix A.2 for the derivative
of so when

53. Interpret We interpret this as a problem involving finding the change of velocity and the average
acceleration. The object of interest is the car.
Develop The acceleration of the car is opposite to the direction of the skid, since it comes to a stop
with final velocityWe shall use Equation 3.5,to calculate the average acceleration. Note that the
direction of is the same asthe change of velocity.
Evaluate The initial speed of the car when skidding begins is

In unit-vector notation, the initial velocity can be written as

Note thatthe velocity at the start of the skid, is not in the direction of the initial motion before the
skid. The magnitude of the average acceleration is

The direction of is in the opposite direction of Therefore, in unit-vector notation, we can

expressas

Assess The average acceleration only depends on the change of velocity between the starting point
and the end point. In this case, it must point in the opposite direction as in order to bring the car
to a complete stop.
54. (a) so or
(b) andso the change in speed is m/s (we did not round off before subtracting). (c) and
(positive angles CCW, negative angles CW, from x axis) so the direction changed by (d) The
difference between andcan be seen from the triangle inequality:
3.12 Chapter 3

55. Interpret This is a problem about uniform circular motion. The object of interest is the second hand
of the clock and the key concepts involved here are the average acceleration and average velocity.
Develop We first find the displacement vectorWe can then use Equation 3.3,to obtain the average
velocity vector. The average acceleration can be calculated by using Equation 3.5,whereis the
change of velocity.
Evaluate (a) The distance moved by the sweep-second hand in 60 seconds (one complete
revolution) is where R is the radius of the circle. Therefore, during a five-second interval the
distance traveled is

The position vectors (from the center hub) of the tip at the beginning and end of the
interval,andform the sides of an isosceles triangle whose base isthe magnitude of the displacement,
and whose base angle is (see figure). Thus, the average velocityhas a magnitude and the direction
ismeasured CW from
(b) The instantaneous speed of the tip of the second-hand is a constant and equal to the
circumference divided by 60 s, orThe direction of the velocity of the tip is tangent to the
circumference, or perpendicular to the radius, in the direction of motion (CW). The angle between
the two tangents is the same as the angle between the two corresponding radii, so thatandform an
isosceles triangle similar to the one in part (a).
Thus

The magnitude of the average accelerationis

and its direction is 105° CW from the direction ofor 195° CW from the direction of
(c) The angle betweenandfrom parts (a) and (b), is

Assess The two vectorsandare always perpendicular to each other. Whileis tangential to the circular
path, the direction ofis toward the center of the circle. Thus,is the centripetal acceleration of the
circular motion. In the above, the magnitude of the average acceleration can also be calculated as
 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions  3.13

56. The velocity of the boat relative to the ground,is perpendicular to the velocity of the water relative
to the ground, the current velocitywhich form a right triangle with hypotenuse equal to the velocity
of the boat relative to the water, as shown in the diagram and as required by Equation 3.7. The
heading upstream is

57. Interpret We interpret this as a problem involving comparing the magnitudes of two vectors.
Develop Using Equation 3.1, we see that in two dimensions, a vectorcan be written as, in unit vector
notation, whereand Similarly, we express vector as
Letbe the sum of the two vectors:

andbe the difference of the two vectors:

Sinceandare perpendicular to each other, for simplicity, we takeand

Evaluate The conditions we have set forandimplyor

With the results obtained above, we can readily show that the magnitudes of and are equal:

Assess An alternative way to establish the equality between A and B is to note that the vectorsand
are the two diagonals of the parallelogram formed by sidesandIf the diagonals are perpendicular, the
parallelogram is a rhombus; hence A = B.
58. A vector of unit magnitude, making a 45° angle CCW with the x-axis, can be expressed as (A unit
vector in any direction in the x-y plane is therefore
59. Interpret This is a problem involving motion in two dimensions. The physical quantity of interest is
the magnitude of acceleration.
Develop We first note that the motions in x and y directions are independent of each other. The x
component of the displacement is due only to the initial velocity,On the other hand, the y
component is just due to the acceleration,
Evaluate The condition thatwhenimplies

Assess The answer can be readily checked by substituting the value of a into

This is equal to
3.14 Chapter 3

60. (a) Since the particle leaves from the origin its position is It crosses the y axis when
or

(b)
(c) Then
and

61. Interpret This is a problem involving projectile motion. The physical quantity of interest is the initial
speed of water.
Develop We first note that the projectile motion can be decomposed into horizontal and vertical
motions that are independent of each other. We are given the initial height of the water,the final
height, and the range These quantities are related by the trajectory Equation 3.14:

This is the equation we shall solve to find the initial speed

Evaluate Withthe above equation can be simplified towhich gives

Assess We check the answer by solving the problem in a different way: Since the water was fired
horizontally the time it takes to fall from to is given by Equation 3.13:

Its initial speed,can be found from Equation 3.12,

Both approaches lead to the same final answer for

62. The horizontal and vertical distances covered by the stuntman areand (since and Eliminating t, one
finds (Note that Equation 3.14 with and provides an equivalent solution.)

63. Interpret This is a problem involving projectile motion. The physical quantities of interest are the
initial speed and angle of the package.
Develop We first note that the projectile motion can be decomposed into horizontal and vertical
motions that are independent of each other. We interpret “just barely” to mean that the maximum
height of the package equals the height of the window sill. Therefore, when the package reaches
the sill (in the coordinate system shown),
Evaluate Using Equation 2.11,withwhen the package reaches the sill, y-component of the initial
velocity is

Since the time of flight is Therefore, the x-component of the initial velocity is

From these components, we find the magnitude and direction of to be

and
 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions  3.15

Assess Checking the answer using Equation 3.14, we find

in agreement with the problem statement.

64. This problem is solved by reasoning identical to that in Exercise 40, where it was shown that
(By referring the student to a similar problem, the wide applicability of the laws of projectile
motion is better appreciated.)
65. Interpret This is a problem involving projectile motion. We are interested in the dependence of total
flight time of a projectile on its launch angle.
Develop Suppose the projectile is launched at an anglewith an initial velocityThe x and y
components of the initial velocities are then equal to

To find the total flight time, we note thatat the maximum heightand the amount of time it takes for
the projectile to reachis given by Equation 3.11:

Since the time of ascent is equal to the time of descent, the total flight time is

Evaluate Using the equation above, the ratio of the total flight time whenis

In Figure 3.19,so and

Assess The total flight time is longest whenor and shortest whenor

66. The candy bar moves horizontally only at the apex of its trajectory (whereand Thus, and
(see Equation 2.11). The time to reach the apex is so (see
Equations 3.11 and 3.12). The horizontal distance from apex to origin is so can be expressed in
unit vector notation as or by its magnitude and direction
3.16 Chapter 3

(CCW from the x axis).

67. Interpret This is a problem involving projectile motion. We want to prove that a projectile launched
on level ground reaches its maximum height midway along its trajectory.
Develop The total flight time can be found by using Equation 3.13,and setting(on level ground).
Similarly, to find the amount of time it takes for the projectile to reach its maximum heightwe note
that at and apply Equation 3.11.
Evaluate From Equation 3.13, we find the total flight time to be

On the other hand, solving Equation 3.11 for the amount of time it takes to reachwe obtain

Comparing the two expressions, we see thatThus, a projectile launched on level ground reaches its
maximum height midway along its trajectory.
Assess The result shows that the time of ascent is equal to the time of descent, as expected. An
alternative proof could be carried out by differentiating Equation 3.14 with respect to x:

We see thatwhenBut this is only half of the horizontal range

68. The intermediate expression for the horizontal range (when the initial and final heights are equal)
is (see the equation before Equation 3.15). The components of the initial velocity are related by
The maximum height, can be found from Equation 2.11 (when or Then(This result reflects a
classical geometrical property of the parabola, namely, that the latus rectum is four times the
distance from vertex to focus.)
69. Interpret This is a problem involving projectile motion. The physical quantity of interest is the initial
speed of the cyclist.
Develop Suppose the projectile is launched at an anglewith an initial velocity . The x and y
components of the initial velocities are then equal to

From Equation 3.13, we find the total flight time to be

The range of the projectile is

Evaluate If the motorcyclist was deflected upward from the road at an angle of 45, the horizontal
range formula found above implies a minimum initial speed of

In fact, some speed would be lost during impact with the car, so the cyclist probably was speeding.
Assess The greater the range, the larger the initial speed. If the cyclist were traveling at a speed of
60 km/h, or 16.67 m/s, he would have landed at a distance of about 28 m from his bike.
70. The trigonometric identity in Appendix A for the sine of the sum of two angles shows that so the
horizontal range formula (Equation 3.15) gives the same range for either launch angle, at the same
initial speed.
71. Interpret This is a problem involving projectile motion. The physical quantity of interest is the
launch angle of the basketball.
Develop We are given the initial height of the ball,the final height, the initial speed and the
 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions  3.17

rangeThese quantities are related by the trajectory Equation 3.14:

This is the equation we shall solve to find the launch angle

Evaluate With origin at the point from which the ball is thrown, the equation of the trajectory,
evaluated at the basket, becomes

or
Using the trigonometric identitywe can convert this equation into a quadratic in

The answers are

Assess Like the horizontal range formula for giventhere are two launch angles whose trajectories
pass through the basket, although in this case they are not symmetrically placed about 45.
72. The height at the start of the 90-turn must be greater than the radius of the turn, in order to
avoid hitting the ground. The radius of the turn must be great enough that the centripetal
acceleration not exceed
i.e., or
73. Interpret This is a problem involving projectile motion. The physical quantity of interest is the
launch speed.
Develop If we take the origin of coordinates at the slingshot and the stranded climbers atand
we can use Equation 3.14 for the trajectory to solve for
Evaluate Using Equation 3.14 to solve forwe obtain

Assess As expected, the initial speedincreases with y. The projectile would have a much greater
range had it not been obstructed by the mountain.
74. To throw an object vertically to a maximum height of requires an initial speed of With this value
ofand the optimum launch angle Equation 3.15 gives a maximum horizontal range on level ground of
(The maximum horizontal range on level ground is twice the maximum height for vertical motion
with the same initial speed. This result holds in the approximation of constant g and no air
resistance.)

75. Interpret This is a problem involving projectile motion. The physical quantities of interest are the
launch speed and the maximum height.
Develop From the expression for the horizontal range, we see that with a given initial speedthe
maximum range is attained with a launch angle of and On the other hand, the projectile reaches its
maximum height when Using Equation 2.11,we have
3.18 Chapter 3

Evaluate A maximum range of implies

This in turn gives

Assess We find the maximum height to be half the maximum range. To see why, we note that the
maximum height of a projectile is Thus,

When choosingto give and we have

76. We need to find the intersection of the trajectory of the ball (Equation 3.14) with a 15 slope
through the same origin, The appearance of the trajectory equation can be simplified by use of the
fact that whenandThus,or the coefficientequals The trajectory equation simplifies to The
intersection of this with the slope occurs when y also equals or The x coordinates of the two
points of intersection are (the origin) and(the horizontal distance queried in this problem).

77. Interpret This is a problem involving projectile motion. The physical quantities of interest are the
initial speed and angle of the diver.
Develop We first note that the projectile motion can be decomposed into horizontal and vertical
motions that are independent of each other. Since we are given the maximum height (at which point
Equation 2.11 can be used to find the y component of the diver’s initial velocity. The x component of
v0 can be found from Equation 3.12, once the time of flight is known.
Evaluate Solving Equation 2.11 gives

To find the total flight time, we solve the quadratic equation (Equation 3.13):

With(a 3-m board isabove the water level), we obtain

We take the positive square root because the diver springs upward off the board. Thus, the x
component of the velocity is

Fromandwe find the magnitude of to be

and direction
 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions  3.19

Assess It takes the diver 1.77 s to complete the dive. The result is reasonable. The greater the
value of the closer the diver will be to the diving board.
78. The derivative of Equation 3.15 with respect tois This is zero when or as stated. (This is the
only maximum, since launch angles are restricted to the range and
79. Interpret This is a problem involving projectile motion. The physical quantity of interest is the slope
of the ground in the landing zone of the ski jump.
Develop We first note that the direction of the skier’s velocity iswhere angles are measured CCW
from the x axis, chosen horizontal to the right in Fig. 3.25 with the y axis upward.
In the landing zone,is in the fourth quadrant, which can be represented by a negative angle below
the
x axis. The slope of the ground at this point can be represented by a similar angleand for the safety
of ski jumpers,
Evaluate The slope can be calculated by using Equations 3.10, 3.11, and 3.12. Thus, and Sinceis
given, the time of flight can be eliminated, and we obtain

Thus, and
Assess An angle ofbelow the x axis is a reasonable value. A typical value is between
80. Interpret We are given the problem of showing that the slope of an equation for a projectile’s
trajectory is in the direction of the projectile’s velocity. Slope of an equation is the derivative. We
also need to show that the components of velocity that we find are the same as the components
given for projectile motion.
Develop The equation given (Equation 3.14) isWe can use the derivative to find the direction of the
slope:If we put the derivative into a single fraction, the top portion will be the
y component of velocity, and the bottom will be the x component. The components of velocity we
find should match Equations 3.10 and 3.11
Evaluate 
The initial components of velocity areandso

Now distance divided by velocity is time, so and

Comparing this with Equations 3.10 and 3.11, we see that the top portion is in factand the bottom is
as we had hoped.
Assess We have used calculus to show what was required in this problem.
81. Interpret We need to find a general equation for the initial speed of a projectile, given the range R
and maximum height h.
Develop If the trajectory is over level ground, then it reaches the maximum height at a time halfway
through the flight. The time for the entire trajectory is twice the time it takes to fall from height h,
3.20 Chapter 3

so we use this time and the range to find the x-component of the initial velocity. We also use the
height to find the y-component of the initial velocity.
We use starting at height h, to find the time.
We then use to find the x-component of initial velocity.
We use to find the y-component of initial velocity.
The initial speed is the magnitude of the initial velocity:
Evaluate 

Assess The problem does not specify that the ground must be level, but it’s not possible to solve
unless you make this assumption.
82. Interpret In the first part, we are asked to show that for circular motion the given equation tells us
the position. Next, we find the angle between the position vector and the x axis. Finally, we use the
second derivative to find the equation for centripetal acceleration.
Develop We draw a diagram of the motion first, as shown in the figure. From the diagram we can
see the position vector and its components. To relateto time t and period T, we use the definition
of speed Finally, we can use derivatives, twice, to obtain the acceleration since
Evaluate (a) From the figure, we see that the x component of position is Similarly, the y
component is The position vectoris the sum of these two components, so
(b) The distance that the particle moves in going around one complete lap is the circumference of
the circle, The time it takes for one complete lap is the period T. This tells us that the speed of
the particle is The anglein radians, is
(c)

The term in square brackets is the direction of In other words, it’s The term in curved brackets is
So the final result is This has the same magnitude as Equation 3.16, and we can see that it is
directed toward the center by the term.

Assess This is a different derivation of the equation for the centripetal acceleration than the one
from the text, but it gives identical results.
83. Interpret We find whether a certain acceleration on a meteor will give the desired result. We can
use the equations for constant-acceleration motion.
Develop There are two things to check. We want to know if the acceleration will give the desired
 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions  3.21

displacement in 4 minutes, and we want to know if the new velocity will be at the desired angle.
We use to find the component of velocity perpendicular to the original direction, then check the
angle by noting that in the figure below.
We find the displacement x using
The acceleration is The time is 4 minutes, and the initial velocity is The new direction of the
velocity should be 22.6° degrees from the original velocity, and the desired displacement is
Evaluate We first convert time to seconds:
The angle is which is a bit short of the desired angle. The displacement is This is far short of
the desired result!

Assess Note that we did not convert our units of km to m. Since all distances are in km, and the
speeds are given in km/s, this is okay: the units are self-consistent.
84. Interpret We are asked to find the initial speed of a projectile, fired horizontally, given the initial
height and the range. We can use the equations for constant-acceleration motion, breaking the
problem up into horizontal and vertical components.
Develop We use the initial height to find the time it takes the arrow to reach the ground, using We
divide the range by that time to find the initial speed,
Evaluate 

Assess At this speed, with something as lightweight as an arrow, it is probably not valid to ignore
air resistance.
85. Interpret What is the actual best launch angle for maximum range with a ball? Why would range
change with altitude?
Develop The problem suggests searching the internet for this information.
Evaluate A quick check using any search engine reveals that the exact angle depends on the speed,
but in general it is lower than 45°. At higher altitudes, there is less air resistance and thus greater
range.
Assess The hardest part of any internet search is trying to determine which pages are actually
useful. It is also possible to write a simple program, or spreadsheet, to estimate the effect of air
resistance. Ask your instructor whether there is a computational physics course available on your
campus!