Teaching Physics with the Physics Suite
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A golfer is trying to hit a golf ball onto the green. The green is a horizontal distance s from his tee and it is up on the side of a hill a height h above his tee. When he strikes the ball it leaves the tee at an angle q to the horizontal. He wants to know with what speed, v0, the ball must leave the tee in order to reach the height h at the distance s.
where |v| stands for the absolute value of the velocity -- the speed. Consider three points of the ball's trajectory -- halfway up, at its highest point, and halfway down. Discuss the direction of the resistance force at each place. Qualitatively (do not attempt a calculation!), what will the effect of air resistance be on the ball's motion?