Shoot the Monkey


Fire a banana cannon at a monkey in a tree. The monkey drops from the tree at the moment the banana is fired from the cannon. Determine where to aim the cannon so the monkey catches the banana. The position of the cannon, launch angle and initial velocity of the banana can be varied. Students can observe the velocity vectors and the paths of the monkey and banana.

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Assessment Questions (5):

  1. In the situation shown below, what will happen if the cannon fires a banana at the same time that the monkey falls from the tree? (Assume the banana has a high enough initial velocity to reach the tree on the fly.)

    Cannon and monkey
  2. Based on the initial settings shown below, what is the initial vertical velocity (vy) of the banana?

    Initial settings
  3. A banana is fired from a cannon on the ground just as a monkey starts to fall from a tree. The monkey catches the banana in midair as it falls to the ground. What was definitely true about the banana and monkey just before the monkey caught the banana?
  4. The image below shows a monkey catching a banana in midair. What would cause the monkey to catch the banana higher up?

  5. An astronaut brings a "Shoot the Monkey" demonstration to the Moon. The apparatus contains a cannon that shoots a ball at a stuffed monkey that is dropped at the same time the cannon is fired. On Earth, the astronaut knows that the ball will hit the stuffed monkey as long as the cannon is aimed directly at the monkey. On the Moon, the force of gravity is only one-sixth as strong as it is on Earth. How should the astronaut aim the cannon to hit the monkey on the Moon?

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