Question

2. A bullet traveling at 8.0 x 10 2 m/s horizontally hits a target 180 m away. How far does thebullet fall before it hits the target?

Answer 1

First, use the following formula to determine the time the bull takes to reach the target:

$\begin{gathered} x=v_xt \\ t=\frac{x}{v_x} \end{gathered}$

where,

x: horizontal distance to the target = 180m

vx: horizontal component of the velocity = 8.0*10^2 m/s

Replace the previous values of the parameters into the expression for t:

$t=\frac{180m}{8.0\cdot10^2\frac{m}{s}}=0.225s$

Next, use the previous time to calculate the vertical distance traveled by the bullet just before it hits the target, as follow:

$\begin{gathered} y=\frac{1}{2}gt^2 \\ y=\frac{1}{2}(9.8\frac{m}{s^2})(0.225s)^2\approx0.25m \end{gathered}$

Hence, the bullet fals approximately 0.25m before it hits the target.