A Projectile Falls Short

Welcome! You are encouraged to register with the site and login (for free). When you register, you support the site and your question history is saved.

A projectile is fired at a target at point C, which lies 100 feet from the base of the platform from which the projectile was fired at point A. If AB = 90 feet, by what distance, in feet, did the projectile fall short of its target?

Review: A Projectile Falls Short


Explanation

The arc of the projectile is merely a distraction to what we will use in this question, which is a triangle. The height of the triangle is 10, the hypotenuse (from A to B) is 90, and the base B is the actual distance traveled by the projectile (which is somewhat less than the intended distance to point C, which is 100). By the Pythagorean Theorem, we have









The difference between this and the intended distance of 100 is the distance by which the projectile fell short.

The correct answer is (A).


If you believe you have found an error in this question or explanation, please contact us and include the question title or URL in your message.
Continue »