practice

1. In the 1994 action-adventure film Speed, an extortionist equipped a Los Angeles bus with a bomb that would explode if the speed of the bus fell below 50 mph (22 m/s). The police discovered the bomb and routed the bus on to a segment of freeway that was still under construction -- their intention being to keep it out of the notoriously heavy Southern California traffic. In a twist of the plot, however, they overlooked a 50 foot (15 m) gap in construction. Since the bomb would explode killing everyone on board if they slowed down, they decide to jump the gap. The missing segment lies on an effectively level stretch of elevated freeway, 50 feet (15 m) above the ground, yet somehow they manage to jump the gap at 67 mph (30 m/s) and land safely on the other side.
   1. If the bus in Speed obeyed the laws of physics how would this scene end?
   2. Just out of curiosity, what would happen if the bus in the movie Speed was odriven off of a 15 m high, horizontal ramp?
      1. Where would the bus land?
      2. What velocity would it have when it struck the ground?
2. Some sort of projectile launched at an angle would be good here -- perhaps the demo done in class.
3. Shoot the monkey
4. Write something completely different.

conceptual

1. When would a bird in the air not be considered a projectile? Under what circumstances could that same bird now become a projectile?

numerical

1. While driving on the interstate one day at 27.8 m/s (60.0 mph) I accidentally dropped the Encyclopedia of Physics out the window, 1.15 m above the ground. Determine the following …
   1. the horizontal and vertical components of the book's velocity the instant I released it
   2. the time the book was in the air
   3. the horizontal distance the book traveled before hitting the ground
   4. the horizontal and vertical components of the book's velocity the instant it hit the ground
2. A ball rolls off the top step of a long staircase as shown in the diagram below. The rise and run of each step are 16 and 32 cm respectively.

   [magnify]

   Determine …
   1. the step on which the ball lands if it rolled off the top step at 5.00 m/s
   2. the ball's speed when it left the top step (stated as a range) if it landed on the seventh step
3. At the 1998 Punkin Chunkin World Championship, a pneumatically-driven device called the "Aludium Q36 Pumpkin Modulator" was able to project an 3.6-4.5 kg (8-10 pounds) pumpkin intact for a total distance of 1227.23 m (4026.32 feet). What was the muzzle velocity (magnitude and direction) of the record-setting pumpkin?
4. Incomplete. Jackie Chan in Rumble in the Bronx. As Mr. Chan's stunt adviser you must tell him how fast to run. What is your answer?
5. Incomplete. For reasons beyond the scope of this book, the optimal launch angle for a long jumper is 35.26° Bob Beamon’s spectacular long jump of 8.90m would last as a world record for 22 years. Mexico City 1968 Games of the 19th Olympiad. 350.5 inches or 8.90 m. What was Bob Beamon's take off speed?

calculus

1. Incomplete. Prove the following …
   1. max distance at 45°
   2. max path length at 56.46°
   3. max area under curve at 60°
   4. max flight time at 90°

investigative

1. How high should a domed stadium be built so that no batted ball would ever strike the ceiling? Solve usinng the distance of the farthest batted ball.