Question

A fighter plane flying horizontally at an altitude of 1.15 km with speed 720 km/h passes directly overhead an anti-aircraft gun. At what angle from the vertical should the gum be fired for the shell with muzzle speed 600 ms^-1 to hit the plane? At what minimum altitude should the pilot fly the pilot fly the plane to avoid being hit? [Take g =10 ms^-2]

Answer 1

Horizontal distance travelled by the shell in time t is the same as the distance covered by the plane.

i.e., θ = 19.5° with the vertical.

The plane will not be hit by the bullet from the gum if it is flying at a minimum height which is the maximum height attained by the bullet after firing from the gum