A Look at Real-World Problem Solving 1.0

This paper (A LOOK AT REAL-WORLD PROBLEM SOLVING) presents an example of a real world problem that addresses several important points in the problem solving process. The example problem involves the trajectory of a projectile. The problem is to reach a desired point by selecting a launch angle. This problem has a wide variety of real applications: rocket and missile launching, targeting and intercepts, satellite orbit transfers and rendezvous, numerical optimization, polynomial root finding, and solving nonlinear equations. The mathematics needed to solve the problem are not too involved - only algebra and trigonometry. The process of solving the problem, however, is at times detailed and tedious. But, this is a concept that needs to be taught: real-world problems are not necessarily easy. Before looking at the solution, we will examine the real-world problem solving process.