Projectile Motion Problems

  1. A B-52 bomber is flying above Afghanistan at a height of 10,000 m and with a velocity of 700 km/hr. The bombardier wishes to drop a bomb on a terrorist training camp that lies directly ahead. How far from the target must he release his bombs? How long will it take the bomb to reach the target? What is the bomb’s vertical velocity when it strikes the target?
  2. During a thunderstorm, a tornado lifts a cow to a height of 125 m above the ground. Increasing in strength, the tornado flings the cow horizontally with an initial speed of 200 km/hr. How long does it take the cow to reach the ground? How far does the cow travel horizontally before reaching the ground?
  3. A police car is giving chase to a suspect in a red convertible at 150 km/hr. The sports car veers off the highway, breaks through a guardrail and flies out over a 600 meter high cliff while still traveling at 150 km/hr. The police officer sees the cliff ahead and hits his brakes. But he is too late and slides over the cliff at 10 km/hr. How far from the base of the cliff does each car land? And how long does it take each car to hit the ground?
  4. A spy in a speed boat is being chased down a river by Navy commandos in a faster boat. Just as the Navy commandos pull up to the spy’s boat, both boats reach the edge of a 150 m waterfall. If the spy’s speed is 40 km/hr and the Navy commando’s speed is 75 km/hr, how far apart will the two boats be when they land below the waterfall?
  5. A CSI team is investigating a crime scene in which a woman’s body is found at the base of a 40-story hotel. They find blood on the balcony of a room on the 39th floor which is 150 meters above the pavement. If the body is found 25 meters away from the base of the building, what was the woman’s horizontal velocity when she jumped or was pushed off the balcony? What was her final vertical velocity when she hit the pavement?
  6. A deer hunter aims at a deer on level ground from 300 meters away. If she aims at the top of the deer’s back and the bullet strikes the deer’s lung 15 centimeters below the top of the deer’s back, how long did it take the bullet to reach the deer? What was the muzzle velocity of the hunter’s rifle?