Description of Splat In the video game Splat, once all the desired balloons are cleared for the level, the remaining balloons drop into a floating box that moves horizontally across the screen at a constant speed. The goal is to use the slingshot at the bottom of the screen to launch a balloon at the box, destroying the box and all the remaining balloons.

The box will automatically start to move from the far left side of the screen as soon as the slingshot launches a balloon. The slingshot will always shoot a balloon directly at the middle of the screen to attempt to hit the floating box.

The floating box measures 0.5 meters (virtually). The slingshot is 30 feet below the floating box (virtually). It takes the box 2 seconds to float across the screen.

The player trying to hit the box will need to strategically adjust the tension on the slingshot to make the balloon fly at the correct speed to hit the box. If the balloon misses the target, the box will continue to travel across the screen. When the box reaches the right side of the screen, it will disappear and then reappear on the left side of the screen. The box will wait until the slingshot is fired again before moving across the screen.

The level is not complete until the box is hit.

The game menu gives feedback after each launch at the moving target. Layla decides to use the feedback to try to hit the target in the least number of moves possible. The feedback is given both as a table and a graph. Layla makes two trial attempts before doing her calculations.

Trial Attempts

Trial 1: In Trial 1, she pulls back the slingshot 20 cm before she releases the balloon and misses the target by 0.15 seconds.

Trial 2: In Trial 2, she increases the tension by pulling the slingshot back 25.5 cm before she releases the balloon. This time, the balloon was too early by 0.04 seconds.

Trial 2 Time and Distance Table

Balloon Travel

Time

(seconds) Distance Balloon Traveled

(meters)

.1 2.83

.5 14.15

.75 21.225

Task 1
Use the graph for Trial 1 and the table of values for Trial 2 to determine an interval of speeds that will ensure Layla hits the moving target.

Task 2
How far should the slingshot be pulled back before releasing to achieve a speed that will hit the target?

Task 3
Approximately how fast is the moving target traveling in meters per second?

You may choose to use the Desmos graphing calculator to support your answer.

When finished, take a screenshot of your graph, save it as an image file, and upload it at the bottom of the page.