A baseball is thrown with an initial velocity of magnitude v at an angle of 27.2 with respect to the horizontal (x) direction. At the same time, a second ball is thrown with the same initial speed at a different angle with respect to x. If the two balls land at the same spot, find . I feel as if there isn't enough information for figure out this problem! Could someone please help me out?

Question

A baseball is thrown with an initial velocity of magnitude v at an angle of 27.2 with respect to the horizontal (x) direction. At the same time, a second ball is thrown with the same initial speed at a different angle  with respect to x. If the two balls land at the same spot, find . I feel as if there isn't enough information for figure out this problem! Could someone please help me out?

drwls · Answer

You have left out what you are supposed to "find".

If you are trying to figure out the angle that the second ball was launched, it is the complementary angle, 62.8 degrees.

There IS enough information to prove this.

The horizontal range of an object launched with velocity V at angle A is
2 (V^2/g) sin A cos A = (V^2/g) sin(2A)

You get the same value for sin(2A) when A = 90degrees-A as you do with A.