Paintball guns shoot at relitively slow speed,
unlike a bullet that will drop several inches over a shot, a paintball
will drop several feet
depending on the distance.
Think of it like
somewhere inbetween throwning a ball and shooting a rifle. Some angle
of launch must be calculated to adjust for the
the pull of gravitiy.
First we can look at the ideal
conditions for a shot. ie no air resistance, level ground.
We know initial velocity is 300
fps, gravitiy is 32 ft/s^2, and we also know that 45 degree angle will
produce max distance.
Take upward to be positive Y axis
and right to be Positive X axis
To find the Maximum Ideal Range
of the Weapon we solve
Y=Yo+VoSin(45)(t)-(1/2)(32)(t)^2
t=time
Y=height Yo=initial height
Vo=initial velocity
Lets Assume that the person
shooting and the target are both the same height
Meaning the contact point and
launch point are equal height to the ground
0=0+300sin(45)t-(16)(t^2)
t=13.26 seconds of flight
Now to find the distance covered
in 13.26 seconds
X=Xo+VoCos(45)(t)
t=time
Vo=inital velocity Xo=Starting position
X=0+300Cos(45)(13.26)
X=2812.5ft
Now remember this problem did not
take air resistance into account.
Since there is no need for
shooting 2500 ft in paintball ball lets take a realisitic problem.
You are shooting at a person 50
ft away while standing on a hill of 5 ft tall what angle do you need to
aim to hit him?
For this question we solve a
system of two equations
50=300Cos(angle)t
0=5+300Sin(angle)t-16(t)^2
Solving these two equations give
you an the answer angle = -5.21
degrees