Interesting Problem (1 Viewer)

Will object A hit B


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spartan31234

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Diagram



This occurs at earth
Object B is in a cannon.
Object A is the sphere
The cannon is aimed at object A such that a laser pointer is pointing in the direction in which the Projectile B will initially travel, ie along the firing axis.

Object A drops the instant the cannon fires. ( object A is initially stationary and B is fired at any velocity greater than 0 but substantially less than c)

Both objects are over a bottomless hole

Will the two objects collide?

object B is fired at any velocity greater than 0

answer posted bellow
 
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darkchild69

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I don't understand your diagram and am unsure if i interpreted the question you are asking correctly.

I interpreted your question as 'B' being fired horizontally from the cannon and as soon as it is fired, then A drops vertically.

No.

A starts from above B.

B and A both have the same initial vertical velocity.

B and A are both accelerating at the same rate (assuming no resistance) i.e., 9.8ms^-2

therefore B and A will always have the same instantaneous vertical velocity and B will never catch up to A
 
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pman

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It depends on the relative velocities of the two objects, both velocities are unspecified so it could go ever way, I'm going to vote no becouse in the majority of cases, they won't collide
 

spartan31234

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the velocities are not given, but the velocity of A which is the projectile is greater than zero

Note both objects are falling at the same rate and begin falling at the same time
 

wats

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I say yes to be different even though I don't think it's possible

What's the answer????
 

spartan31234

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Answer Both objects will hit and collision certain regardless of velocity (providing it is greater than zero)

Ignore air resistance
Assume uniform gravitational field - ie constant acceleration

Reason


There are two ways of proving this, one involves maths. I will show you the easier way.

To see this you have to visualise the situation through the 'perspective' of object A
Object A is released at the same time Object B is fired. Both objects will accelerate downwards at g. Now the question is what would object A 'see'.

Since both objects accelerate at the same rate. With respect to object A, object B will not be accelerating. Eg imagine Two cars drag racing if their accelerating is the same there will be stationary with respect to each other.
now in this situation, object B has a initial velocity. Using the other analogy this would be equivalent to two cars drag racing both with the same acceleration(constant) but one started with initial velocity, thus it one driver will see the other car moving away at a constant velocity.

Apply this idea to this problem. This is what you will see if you were object A
You would see object B travelling at a constant velocity, because it is initially aimed at you, it will be guaranteed to it you. ( you are over a bottomless pit)

Side note

What you are doing is viewing the situation through a different frame of reference
in this frame of reference object A is stationary and object B is moving in a straight line at a constant velocity and the earth's surface is accelerating upwards at g.

Here is where i am a bit unsure

You should also note that none of these frames of reference available are travelling very fast and the gravitational field is relatively weak.
also note that events viewed from our frame of reference
( earth surface stationary) and the frame of reference of object A are equivalent.
Don't you agree that object A hits object B, at the same moment in time and location in space, when viewed from Earth's frame of and the falling frame of reference (object A's).

Just say we make this a rule ( it is quite intuitive)

Now imagine the situation if we replace object B with a mass-less particle (photon of light) which is projected a c. Do you see something strange?

In the falling frame of reference the same thing happens as discussed above the photon travels in a straightline.

From the earth's frame of reference the photon still travels in a straight line! and since object A will drop!. So between the frames of reference the time of collision agrees but but not the location!.

This could be a conundrum i would have to do the maths....( i hate maths) but i see on path. Don't you think this indicates a relationship between gravity, space and time ( for the rule to hold) ?

 
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Dx_God

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wording is really bad but i kinda get what u mean. the answer depends upon the distance between the cannon and (A) and the initial velocity of (B). Generally it is possible for (A) and (B) to collide if u keep on changing the distance and the initial velocity of (B) but for ur question u haven't gave enough information to say that (A) and (B) will definitely collide or not, so i'll go with MAYBE.
 

spartan31234

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i assure you the velocity does not matter, as long as it is fired at a velocity greater than zero
 

kaz1

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I think I get it now. It most likely won't hit as you need the right angle and velocity.
 
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jet

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I did the maths and they will collide
 

spartan31234

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They will collide, the angle is given as the problem states the cannon is aimed directly at the target, only variable is velocity.

But i assure u the velocity is not important see my explanation in page 1 if u want
 
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