Problem 16.

130 The cannon weighed 400 lb, fired a

cannonball weighing 10 lb, and had a muzzle velocity 10°
of 200 ft/s. For the 10◦ elevation angle shown, deter-
mine (a) the velocity of the cannon after it was fired
and (b) the distance the cannonball traveled. (Neglect
drag.)

Solution: Assume that the height of the cannon mouth above the
ground is negligible. (a) Relative to a reference frame moving with the vC vB
cannon, the cannonball’s velocity is 200 ft/s at. The conservation of
linear momentum condition is −mC vC + mB (vB cos 10◦ − vC ) = 0,
from which 10°
◦
mB vB cos 10
vC = = 4.804 ft/s.
mB + mC

The velocity of the cannon ball relative to the ground is

vB = (200 cos 10◦ − vC )i + 200 sin 10◦ j = 192.16i + 34.73j ft/s,

from which v0x = 192.16 ft/s, v0y = 34.73 ft/s. The maximum height
is (from the conservation of energy for free fall) hmax = v0y 2 /(2g) =

18.75 ft, where the height of the cannon mouth above the ground is
negligible. The time of flight (from the solution of Newton’s second
law for free fall) is twice the time required to fall from the maximum
height,


2hmax
tflight = 2 = 2.16 s.
g

From which the range is ximpact = v0x tflight = 415 ft since v0x is
constant during the flight.

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