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Leonard and William

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Leonard and William

Leonard and William each received ping pong ball launchers for Christmas. The launchers are identical, and have a muzzle velocity of 16
m
s
*. Leonard aims his upward at a 30 degree angle of inclination, and fires toward William. William waits one second, and then fires his launcher horizontally toward Leonard. Both fired from the same height. The two ping pong balls collide in midair. How far apart are Leonard and William standing?

BONUS: What can we conclude about the height at which the ping pong balls were fired?

* 16
m
s
is approximately 36 mph, so these are clearly Starfleet issue ping pong ball launchers. Don't ask Santa for one of these.

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Problem by Mr. Twitchell

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