You work for the National Park Service testing a small cannonused to prevent avalanches by shooting down snow overhanging thesides of mountains. In order to determine the range of the cannon,it is necessary to know the speed with which the projectile leavesthe cannon (muzzle speed), relative to the ground. The cannon youare testing has a weight of 500 lbs. and shoots a 20-lb.projectile. During lab tests where the cannon is held and cannotmove, the muzzle speed is 400 m/s. You want to calculate theprojectile's muzzle speed with respect to the ground under fieldconditions when the cannon is mounted so that it is free to move(recoil) when fired. You take the case where the cannon is firedhorizontally using the same shells as in the laboratory.
