Course: SPH3UC

Unit 1: Motion

Activity 6: Two Dimensional Motion

Solutions:

1. An airplane flying at 50.0 m/s is bringing food and emergency first aid supplies to a
camp. The plan is for the pilot to drop the supplies so that they land on an “X” marked on
the ground 150 m below.

a. How long will it take the supplies to fall to the ground? (You can ignore the effect
of air resistance.)

b. How far in front of the “X” should the pilot release the supplies so that they land
directly on the “X”?

Vertical Motion Horizontal Motion

Up is positive, down is negative. Right is positive, left is negative.
Given: Given:
This was obtained from part A.

, remember that this is the initial vertical since there is no acceleration in the
velocity. horizontal direction
Required: Required:
Δt = ?
Solution: Solution:
Since , we can eliminate the term.

The supplies will cover a distance of

It will take the suitcase 5.53 s to hit the about 277 m before they hit the ground.
ground. Therefore, the pilot should release the
supplies about 277 m before he is over
the “X”.

2. Jamilla throws a stone horizontally off of a pier into the ocean at a velocity of 20 m/s. If
the stone is 40.0 m from the edge of the pier when it hits the water, which what velocity
 did Jamilla throw it?

Horizontal Motion Vertical Motion

Right is positive, left is negative. Up is positive, down is negative.
Given: Given:

Δt = 2.0 s. From the first column.

since there is no acceleration in the , remember that this is the initial
horizontal direction vertical velocity.
Required: Required:

Solution: Solution:

Δt = 2.0 s The displacement of the stone is -19.6

The stone will take 2.0 s to hit the m. This means that the stone has
water below. fallen 19.6 m. Therefore the pier must
be 19.6 m above the water.

3. A cannonball is fired horizontally at a speed of 200 m/s from the edge of a cliff out over a
flat, level plain. At the same time, a second, identical cannonball rolls off the side of the
cliff and falls to the ground below. How will the time required for the fired cannonball to
hit the ground compare to time required for the second cannonball to hit the ground?

Times will be the same because the horizontal component of fired cannonballs motion
has no effect on its vertical motion.

4. A famous two-dimensional motion demonstration called “shoot the monkey” involves

firing a projectile at a monkey (a stuffed one, not a real one) suspended above the
ground at the exact same time that the monkey is released and begins to fall to the
ground. In order to hit the monkey with the projectile before the monkey hits the ground,
where should you aim: above the monkey, at the monkey, or below the monkey? Explain
your reasoning.
Aim at the monkey, the projectile and the monkey will both undergo the same vertical
acceleration and therefore their vertical motions will be altered/affected in the same way.