In: Physics
You are in charge of designing a catapult that must launch a rock of mass m using a single spring that can only be compressed a distance x. The catapult’s target is located a distance L away from the catapult, but there is a wall of height L/3 located halfway between the catapult and the target. Determine the smallest spring constant (and the corresponding launch angle) that will allow you to hit the target. (You can make the simplifying assumption that x is very small compared to L.)