Re: Reach of a projectile

[John Mallinckrodt <ajm@CSUPOMONA.EDU>]

Hassan writes:

> I am able to derive the equation y =3D A - Bx2 that you mentioned.
> However, I still have a question:  How can we be sure that
> maximizing y wrt theta will span all the points covered by the
> projectile?  What if I maximize r wrt theta where (r,theta) is the
> polar coordinate of a trajectory?

The procedure is to fix x and then find the value of theta that
maximizes y *at* that value of x.  The resulting formula gives the
largest attainable value of y as a function of x.

--
John Mallinckrodt        mailto:ajm@csupomona.edu
Cal Poly Pomona          http://www.csupomona.edu/~ajm