Then a baseball flies through the air, the ratio fquad/fiin of the quadratic to the linear drag force is given by (2.7). Given that a baseball has diameter 7 cm, find the approximate speed v at which the two drag forces are equally important. For what approximate range of speeds is it safe to treat the drag force as purely quadratic? Under normal conditions is it a good approximation to ignore the linear term? Answer the same questions for a beach ball of diameter 70 cm.
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Textbook Solutions for Classical Mechanics
Question
[Computer] The equation (2.39) for the range of a projectile in a linear medium cannot be solved analytically in terms of elementary functions. If you put in numbers for the several parameters, then it can be solved numerically using any of several software packages such as Mathematica, Maple, and MatLab. To practice this, do the following: Consider a projectile launched at angle \(\theta\) above the horizontal ground with initial speed \(v_0\) in a linear medium. Choose units such that \(v_0=1\) and \(g=1\). Suppose also that the terminal speed \(v_{{ter}}=1\). (With \(v_0=v_{{ter}}\), air resistance should be fairly important.) We know that in a vacuum, the maximum range occurs at \(\theta=\pi/4\approx0.75\). (a) What is the maximum range in a vacuum? (b) Now solve (2.39) for the range in the given medium at the same angle \(\theta= 0.75\). (c) Once you have your calculation working, repeat it for some selection of values of \(\theta\) within which the maximum range probably lies. (You could try \(\theta= 0.4\), \(0.5\), ..., \(0.8\).) (d) Based on these results, choose a smaller interval for \(\theta\) where you're sure the maximum lies and repeat the process. Repeat it again if necessary until you know the maximum range and the corresponding angle to two significant figures. Compare with the vacuum values.
Solution
The first step in solving 2 problem number 22 trying to solve the problem we have to refer to the textbook question: [Computer] The equation (2.39) for the range of a projectile in a linear medium cannot be solved analytically in terms of elementary functions. If you put in numbers for the several parameters, then it can be solved numerically using any of several software packages such as Mathematica, Maple, and MatLab. To practice this, do the following: Consider a projectile launched at angle \(\theta\) above the horizontal ground with initial speed \(v_0\) in a linear medium. Choose units such that \(v_0=1\) and \(g=1\). Suppose also that the terminal speed \(v_{{ter}}=1\). (With \(v_0=v_{{ter}}\), air resistance should be fairly important.) We know that in a vacuum, the maximum range occurs at \(\theta=\pi/4\approx0.75\). (a) What is the maximum range in a vacuum? (b) Now solve (2.39) for the range in the given medium at the same angle \(\theta= 0.75\). (c) Once you have your calculation working, repeat it for some selection of values of \(\theta\) within which the maximum range probably lies. (You could try \(\theta= 0.4\), \(0.5\), ..., \(0.8\).) (d) Based on these results, choose a smaller interval for \(\theta\) where you're sure the maximum lies and repeat the process. Repeat it again if necessary until you know the maximum range and the corresponding angle to two significant figures. Compare with the vacuum values.
From the textbook chapter Projectiles and Charged Particles you will find a few key concepts needed to solve this.
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