The Ball And The Pail

Chris Harding
March 2018

1 Problem Statement

1
2 Solution: a
Question: Find an expression for the angle θ0 that the person aims the ball in
order to hit the pail. Does the answer depend on the initial velocity?

Force Balance:

Fty = may = F g = −mg; Fxt = max = 0; ay = −g; ax = 0.

Ball,Y:

Velocity:

Z vb,y (t) Z t0 =t
dvb,y
= −g → dv = −g· dt0 → vb,y (t)−vb,y0 = −gt → vb,y (t) = vb,y0 − gt
dt vb,y0 t0 =0
(1)
Position:
dyb
= vb,y (t) (2)
dt
Now, substitute (1) into (2) and integrate

Z yb (t) Z t0 =t Z t0 =t
1
dy = vb,y0 dt0 − g · t0 dt0 → yb (t) = yb,0 + vb,y0 t − gt2 (3)
yb,0 t0 =0 t0 =0 2
According to the problem statement, yb,0 = h2 . So,
1
yb (t) = h2 + vb,y0 t − gt2 (4)
2
Ball,X:

Velocity:

Z vb,x (t)
dvb,x
=0→ dv = 0 · dt → vb,x (t) − vb,xo = 0 → vb,x (t) = vb,x0 (5)
dt vb,x0

Position:
dxb
= vb,x (t) = vb,x0 (6)
dt
Now, integrate the equation.
Z xb (t) Z t0 =t
dx = vb,x0 dt0 → xb (t) = xb,x0 + vb,x0 t (7)
xb,0 t0 =0

2
 Pail, Y:

Note, the same force balance can be used. As such, I will move onto the
”Pail, Y” and ”Pail, X” derivations.

Pail,Y:

Velocity:
dvp,y
= −g → vp,y (t) = vp,y0 − gt (8)
dt
Position:
dyp 1
= vp,y0 − gt → yp (t) = yp,yo + vp,y0 t − gt2 (9)
dt 2

According to the problem statement, yp,yo = h1 . As such,

1
yp (t) = h1 + vp,y0 t − gt2 (10)
2
Now, I will solve the problem using the above equations.

At time ta , the ball impacts the pail and has travelled a distance of s. We
need the angle that the person aims the ball.

yb (ta ) = yp (ta ); xb (ta ) = xp (ta ) (11)

First, I will set the y 0 s equal to each other.

1 1
h2 + vb,y0 ta − gt2a = h1 + vp,y0 ta − gt2a → h2 + vb,y0 ta = h1 + vp,y0 ta (12)
2 2
Since I am interested in the angle that the ball has been released, and I need
to take s into consideration, which is the x axis, I will now use the ball’s x
equation (7) and solve for ta . Also, I will note that xb,x0 = 0 at t = 0 according
to the problem statement. I must remember that the ball travels s distance
when it impacts the pail.
s
xb (ta ) = xb,x0 + vb,x0 ta → s = vb,x0 ta → ta = (13)
vb,x0

3
 Now, substitute the above ta (13) into the equation for for y 0 s(12) that was
derived earlier.
s s
h2 + vb,y0 ( ) = h1 + vp,y0 ( ) (14)
vb,x0 vb,x0
From knowledge of the initial velocity of the ball, I will transform the x
and y coordinates of the ball velocity into the trigonometry form with initial
velocity, v0 ans substitute in equation (14).
s vp,y0
h2 + v0 sin(θ)( ) = h1 + s (15)
v0 cos(θ) vb,x0
Now, I know that

sin(θ)
= tan(θ) (16)
cos(θ)
I will substitute 16 into 15.
vp,y0
h2 + s · tan(θ) = h1 + s (17)
vb,x0
Now, I will solve for tan(θ).

vp,y0 (h1 − h2 ) vp,y0

s · (tan(θ) − ) = (h1 − h2 ) → tan(θ) = + (18)
vvb,x0 s vb,x0
Now, I can solve for the angle the ball needs to be aimed at to hit the pail
that falls. Also, according to the problem statement, the initial velocity of the
pail: vp,y0 = 0.

Solution to a
h1 − h2
θ = arctan( ) (19)
s

3 Solution: b
Question: Find an expression for the time of collision as a function of the initial
speed of the ball v0 , and the quantities h1 , h2 , and s.

After rearranging (12), keeping in mind that vp,y0 = 0, I get

vb,y0 ta = h1 − h2 → v0 sin(θ)ta = (h1 − h2 ) (20)

After rearranging (13), keeping in mind that x0 = 0, I get

vb,x0 ta = s → v0 cos(θ)ta = s (21)

4
 Now, I square (20) and (21)

v02 sin2 (θ)t2a = (h1 − h2 )2 and v02 cos2 (θ)t2a = s2 (22)

It is time to remember the trigonometry identity

sin2 (θ) + cos2 (θ) = 1 (23)

s2
v02 (1 − sin2 (θ))ta = s2 → sin2 (θ) = 1 − (24)
v02 t2a
Solving for ta

s2 2 s2 (h1 − h2 )2
v02 (1 − )t a = (h1 − h2 )2
→ t2
a − = (25)
v02 t2a v02 v02
Solution to b

(h1 − h2 )2 s2 1 p
t2a = + → ta = · ((h1 − h2 )2 + s2 ) (26)
v02 v02 v0

4 Solution: c
Question: Find an expression for the height above the ground where the collision
occurred as a function of the initial speed of the ball v0 , and the quantities h1 ,
h2 , and s.
To solve this problem, I can substitute (26) into (10) while remembering
that vp,y0 = 0.

1 1 ((h1 − h2 )2 + s2 )
yp (t) = h1 − gt2a = h1 − g (27)
2 2 v02
References:

[1] Deepto Chakrabarty, Peter Dourmashkin, Michelle Tomasik, Anna Frebel,

and Vladan Vuletic. 8.01SC Classical Mechanics. Fall 2016. Massachusetts In-
stitute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare, https://ocw.mit.edu. License:
Creative Commons BY-NC-SA.