Did anyone else think that scene was overdone? It's a basic equation of motion..anyone in amateur rocketry would have it stuck in their heads. I was surprised to see them go "eureka!" over it.
But I guess sometimes, the simplest of things go unnoticed.
In the words of Otto:
Zeppelin Rulllesss!!
I don't know alot about the time period (i'm only 17) but I think it was the application to the situation that was impressive; especially considering he was supposed to be awful at math. Again, i don't know, but back then maybe this was not common knowledge, especially at their school
shareYour post is especially immature.
First, just like the previous guy said, High School education was not as developed as it is now. After Spunik, US passed Secondary Education Act and created the first AP class.
Second, even today in our society, many regular physics students are still ignorant of the formula. Plus, physics isn't a required course in many High School (only certain science credits, but that can be bio, chem, IPC, anything, APES (AP Environmental Science)).
Not everyone may be as educated as you are. Not everyone has the chance.
Oh, and for the record, smart guy, the full equation is:
X = Vot + 1/2at^2
Where,
X = distance the object traveled
Vo = initial velocity, which for most vertical motion is assumed zero.
a = acceleration, which for vertical motion is 9.8 m/s^2.
t = time in seconds.
Relax, there's no need for sarcasm.
It was a genuine question, I'm not being a "smart guy".
In the words of Otto:
Zeppelin Rulllesss!!
FYI I agree with what Patricktohill said.
But at least he didn't sound bitter while saying it.
In the words of Otto:
Zeppelin Rulllesss!!
wow, sharkx, you're a *beep* prick.
Okay, what am I doing? I'm chasing this guy. Nope. He's chasing me.
It would have been a less cringe-worthy if they'd used the correct formula. For the simplest case, and completely neglecting air resistance,
Distance d = (v^2 * 2 * cosine(theta))/g
where v is the launch velocity, theta is the launch angle and g is the acceleration of gravity.
It gets way more complicated from there, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_of_a_projectile for a treatment that still does not include air resistance.
Their rockets had a long boost phase which would complicate the issue.
Getting there with only flight time as a known quantity would make it more complicated yet and my intuition is it would be unsolvable without additional information.