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Fun With Fundamentals: Problem 232

Feb. 1, 2000
Finagel J. Wurme, the Romeo he is, treated his beloved belle Daisy Duke with a Valentine's Day picnic in the park

Problem 232 – Dazey Daisy

The answer to this problem may fall in your lap.

Finagel J. Wurme, the Romeo he is, treated his beloved belle Daisy Duke with a Valentine's Day picnic in the park. While the two munched liverwurst and anchovy sandwiches, Finagel pulled out a gum store ring and proposed marriage. Daisy was taken aback by the shimmering bauble, but even more surprised when, "Kerplunk!" a Civil War cannonball dropped from the shade tree onto her head. Some say it was wedding bells Daisy heard that afternoon because when she came to she gave Finagel the answer he was hoping for, "Yes!"

Finagel told his friends that Cupid hit the mark that day, but actually it was Fizzle Farnsworth, a confederate artillery specialist known for his poorly packed charges. More than a century ago, Farnsworth launched the six-pound shell during the Battle of Chaffin's Farm. The projectile missed its intended target, landing safely in the boughs of a young oak tree. Assume the cannonball fell 6 feet (from rest) before it met with poor Daisy's head. If it was launched from the ground at a 30° angle with an initial velocity 10 times the impact velocity at which it met Daisy, how high did it reach at the top if its trajectory and how far did it travel (ground distance) if it originally came to rest 30 feet up in the tree?

Based on a true story, the infamous cannon ball actually barely missed a person's head in its descent and now rests on "sausage baron" Jimmy Dean's fireplace mantel.

Solution to November's problem, 231: It's happy travels for the poster-packing editor. The posters will fit in the cubic compartment if placed diagonally. As William H. Harm of St. Paul, Minn. pens:

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