A toy gun uses a spring to shoot a ball with a mass of 5.0 g. The spring is “loaded” by compressing it 5.0 cm and

has a spring constant of 288 N/m. The end of the spring is at the end of the gun (the ball does not travel any
distance inside the gun after the spring) and the toy gun is held at a height of 1.5 m above the ground. If the gun is aimed horizontally, how far can it shoot the ball? If it is aimed up 45 degrees how will the initial velocity change? How will the initial velocity change if shot straight upward, and how high would it go?

I really appreciate any assistance you can give me for this, thanks!

1 answer

a. find out the spring energy before shooting.
b. find out the initial ball velocity from its KEnergy.
c. find out how long it takes the ball to fall 1.5 meters,
distance=velocity*time

c1!@45: find out initila horizontal velocity, and initial vertical velocity.
Intialvertical=vi*sin45
initialhorizonal=vi*cos45

time in air:
hf=hi+vi'*t -4.9 t^2
hf=-1.5, hi=0
solve for t (use quadratic formula)
then horizontal distance=vi*cos45*timeinair.