Cannonball projectiles

1. A ball is rolled horizontally across a table with velocity v. The effects of friction and air resistance are negligible.
a. What is the acceleration of the ball?
b. What is the velocity of the ball 10s after the ball is pushed?

2. A cannon is fired horizontally off a 10m high cliff, with a speed of 15ms-1. The effects of friction and air resistance
are negligible.
a. Draw a diagram to represent the cannon and the cliff.
b. What is the horizontal acceleration of the ball?
c. What is the horizontal component of the velocity 10s after the ball is fired?
d. What is the initial vertical component of the ball’s velocity?
e. What is the vertical acceleration of the ball?
f. How long does it take the ball to fall 10m?
g. What is the horizontal distance travelled by the ball?

3. A cannon is fired horizontally off a 30m high cliff, with a speed of 6ms-1. The effects of friction and air resistance
are negligible.
a. Draw a diagram to represent the cannon and the cliff.
b. How long does it take the ball to hit the ground?
c. What is the horizontal distance travelled by the ball?

4. A cannon is fired horizontally off a 18m high cliff, with a speed of 65ms-1. The effects of friction and air resistance
are negligible.
a. Draw a diagram to represent the cannon and the cliff.
b. What is the horizontal distance travelled by the ball?

5. A cannon is angled at 30˚ to the horizontal, and a ball is fired with a velocity of 10ms-1. The effects of friction and
air resistance are negligible.
a. Draw a diagram to represent the cannon and cannonball.
b. What is the initial horizontal component of the ball’s velocity? Write your answer in terms of sin/cos.
c. What is the horizontal acceleration of the ball?
d. What is the horizontal component of the velocity 10s after the ball is fired?
e. What is the initial vertical component of the ball’s velocity? Write your answer in terms of sin/cos.
f. What is the vertical acceleration of the ball?
g. What is the vertical component of the velocity of the ball at its highest point?
h. How high does the ball go?
i. How long does it take for the ball to reach the highest point?
j. How long does the ball take to reach the ground once it has been fired?
k. What is the horizontal distance travelled by the ball?

6. A cannon is angled at 40˚ to the horizontal, and a ball is fired with a velocity of 35ms-1. The effects of friction and
air resistance are negligible.
a. Draw a diagram to represent the cannon and cannonball.
b. What is the horizontal component of the ball’s velocity?
c. What is the initial vertical component of the ball’s velocity?
d. What is the highest point reached by the ball?
e. What is the total velocity of the ball at the highest point?
f. How long does it take the ball to reach this point?
g. What is the total horizontal distance travelled by the ball?

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7. A cannon is angled at 70˚ to the horizontal, and the ball is fired with a velocity of 128ms-1. The effects of friction
and air resistance are negligible.
a. Draw a diagram to represent the cannon and cannonball.
b. What is the highest point reached by the ball?
c. How long is the total time of flight of the ball?
d. What is the horizontal distance travelled by the ball?

8. A cannon is angled at 53˚ to the horizontal, and a ball is fired with a velocity of 86ms-1. The effects of friction and
air resistance are negligible.
a. Draw a diagram to represent the cannon and the cannonball.
b. What is the highest point reached by the ball?
c. What is the horizontal distance travelled by the ball?

9. A cannon is angled at 20˚ to the horizontal, and a ball is fired with a velocity of 50ms-1. 100m away from the
cannon is a wall with a height of 15m. The effects of friction and air resistance are negligible.
a. Draw a diagram to represent the cannon, the cannonball, and the wall.
b. What is the highest point reached by the ball?
c. What is the horizontal distance travelled by the ball?
d. How long does it take the ball to travel a horizontal distance of 100m (the distance to the wall)?
e. Using the time found in part d, what is the vertical height of the ball at the wall?
f. Does the ball make it over the wall?

10. A cannon is angled at 63˚ to the horizontal, and a ball is fired with a velocity of 250ms-1. 50m away from the
cannon is a wall with a height of 80m. The effects of friction and air resistance are negligible.
a. Draw a diagram to represent the cannon, the cannonball, and the wall.
b. What is the highest point reached by the ball?
c. What is the horizontal distance travelled by the ball?
d. How long does it take the ball to reach the wall?
e. What is the vertical height of the ball at the wall?
f. Does the ball make it over the wall?

11. A cannon is angled at 4˚ to the horizontal, and a ball is fired with a velocity of 87ms-1. 30m away from the
cannon is a wall with a height of 2m. The effects of friction and air resistance are negligible.
a. Draw a diagram to represent the cannon, the cannonball, and the wall.
b. How long does it take the ball to reach the wall?
c. What is the vertical height of the ball at the wall?
d. Does the ball make it over the wall?

12. A cannon is angled at 82˚ to the horizontal, and a ball is fired with a velocity of 78ms-1. 120m away from the
cannon is a wall with a height of 260m. The effects of friction and air resistance are negligible.
a. Draw a diagram to represent the cannon, the cannonball, and the wall.
b. Does the ball make it over the wall?

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13. A cannon is on a 15m high cliff, is angled at 30˚ to the horizontal, and is fired with a velocity of 40ms-1. The
effects of friction and air resistance are negligible.
a. Draw a diagram to represent the cannon, the cannonball, and the cliff.
b. How high above the cliff does the ball reach?
c. How high is this above the ground?
d. How long does it take the ball to reach this point?
e. What is the vertical component of the balls velocity at the highest point?
f. How long does it take the ball to fall from the highest point to the ground?
g. How long is the ball in flight for, from the moment it is launched to the moment it lands on the ground?
h. What is the total horizontal distance travelled by the ball?

14. A cannon is on a 22m high cliff, is angled at 14˚ to the horizontal, and is fired with a velocity of 89ms-1. The
effects of friction and air resistance are negligible.
a. Draw a diagram to represent the cannon, the cannonball, and the cliff.
b. What is the highest point above the ground the ball reaches?
c. How long is the ball in flight for in total?
d. What is the total horizontal distance travelled by the ball?

15. A cannon is on a 32m high cliff, is angled at 67˚ to the horizontal, and is fired with a velocity of 51ms-1. The
effects of friction and air resistance are negligible.
a. Draw a diagram to represent the cannon, the cannonball, and the cliff.
b. What is the total horizontal distance travelled by the ball?

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Answers

1.
a. 0ms-2
b. V
2.

a.
b. 0ms-2
c. 15ms-1
d. 0ms-1
e. -9.81ms-2
f. 1.43s
g. 21.4m
3.
a.
b. 2.47s
c. 14.8m
4.
a.
b. 125m
5.

a.
b. 10cos(30)ms-1
c. 0ms-2
d. 10cos(30)ms-1
e. 10sin(30)ms-1
f. -9.81ms-2
g. 0ms-1
h. 1.3m
i. 0.51s
j. 1.0s
k. 8.8m

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6.
a.
b. 35cos(40)ms-1
c. 35sin(40)ms-1
d. 26m
e. 35cos(40)ms-1
f. 2.3s
g. 123m
7.
a.
b. 737m
c. 24.5s
d. 1074m
8.
a.
b. 240m
c. 725m
9.

a.
b. 14.9m
c. 164m
d. 2.12s
e. 14.1m
f. No
10.
a.
b. 2530m
c. 5150m
d. 0.44s
e. 97m
f. Yes
11.
a.
b. 0.35s
c. 1.51m
d. No
12.
a.
b. No

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13.

a.
b. 20.4m
c. 25.4m
d. 2.04s
e. 0ms-1
f. 2.67s
g. 4.72s
h. 164m
14.
a.
b. 45.6m
c. 5.24s
d. 453m
15.
a.
b. 200m