Mighty Mouse (who flies at a constant speed of 600mph) was standing by a cannon that was pointed straight up. A cannonball was shot vertically into the air with an initial velocity of 300 mph. Exactly one second after the cannon was fired, Mighty Mouse flew up to touch the bottom of the cannonball. He then immediately turned and flew back down to touch the inside bottom of he cannon, then up to the cannonball, down into the cannon, and son on, until the cannonball fell back into the cannon's barrel.

Question

What was the total distance Mighty Mouse ha flown when he was finally smashed into mouse-mush by the cannonball?

Answer 1

the height of the ball is

h(t) = 134t - 9.8t^2
since 300 mph = 134m/s
so, when is the cannon ball back down? when h=0
t = 13.67 sec

so, how far does Mickey fly in that time (less 1 second), at 600 mph?

Answer 2

oops. that should be
h(t) = 134t - 4.9t^2

so solve that for the correct time involved.