You kick a ball over a flat field. Taking into account gravity, but disregarding everything else like wind, friction, bounces, etc., etc., at what angle should you kick it so the ball lands the farthest away from you? And at what angle should you kick it so the ball makes the longest trajectory before landing?

(In reply to solution by dan)

The first part of the question asks, "at what angle should you kick it so the ball LANDS the farthest away from you".  The key here is the ball has to go in the air before it can land; so kicking it along the ground isn't the answer.  My guess is 45deg. from horizontal.

The second part is a little trickier, common sense tells me it's 45deg. or more. 

Posted by Mark on 2005-03-18 19:40:02