Ball bouncing in narrow corridor · Physics Brawl 2014 #FoL.1
Physics · mechanics
Problem
While sitting and thinking deeply, Aleš was throwing a little ball against a wall. Each time, he threw the ball with an initial speed v0=10 m·s−1 at an angle α=60° from the vertical axis. Since he was sitting in a narrow corridor with width d=1.5 m, the ball always bounced back and forth between the walls a couple of times. What is the maximum height (measured relative to ball's initial position) that the ball will reach along its trajectory? Consider all collisions to be perfectly elastic. The acceleration due to gravity is g=9.81 m·s−2.