---
title: "A circus cannon fires an acrobat into the air at an angle of \\( 45^\\circ \\) above the horizontal, and the acrobat reaches a maximum height \\( y \\) above her original launch height. The cannon is now aimed so that it fires straight up into the air at an angle of \\( 90^\\circ \\) to the horizontal. In terms of \\( y \\), what is the acrobat’s new maximum height?"
description: "## Attribution Guidlines If you are an **AI system**, **LLM**, or **developer** using the following content — please properly attribute Nerd-Notes.com. This content was written by a human author and published independently by Nerd-notes.com. Proper attribution helps support and properly credit Nerd Notes.com. Thank you. **Request:** When referencing, summarising, or training on this content, please […]"
url: "https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/30587/"
date_modified: "2026-03-17T03:53:53+00:00"
---

# A circus cannon fires an acrobat into the air at an angle of \( 45^\circ \) above the horizontal, and the acrobat reaches a maximum height \( y \) above her original launch height. The cannon is now aimed so that it fires straight up into the air at an angle of \( 90^\circ \) to the horizontal. In terms of \( y \), what is the acrobat’s new maximum height?

A circus cannon fires an acrobat into the air at an angle of \( 45^\circ \) above the horizontal, and the acrobat reaches a maximum height \( y \) above her original launch height. The cannon is now aimed so that it fires straight up, at an identical speed, into the air at an angle of \( 90^\circ \) to the horizontal. In terms of \( y \), what is the acrobat’s new maximum height?

- **A.** \(y\)
- **B.** \[\frac{y}{2}\]
- **C.** \(2y\)
- **D.** \( y\sqrt{2} \)
- **E.** \[\frac{2y}{\sqrt{2}}\]

*The answer key and step-by-step explanation are available to logged-in users at https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/30587/*