Question

An air pump does 5,600 J of work to launch a water bottle rocket into the air. If the air pump applies 150 N of force to the rocket at an angle of 45° to the ground, what is the horizontal distance the water bottle rocket travels? Round your answer to two significant figures.

17 × 101 m
5.3 × 101 m
1.1 × 102 m
5.9 × 102 m

Answer 1

Work = F·d = F cos(45°) · x, so x = W / (F cos45°).

cos45° = 0.7071, so x = 5600 / (150·0.7071) = 5600 / 106.07 ≈ 52.8 m.

Rounded to two significant figures: 5.3 × 10^1 m (53 m).