Stick a cannonball in a cannon and blast it away, and how far does it go? Fred’s about to find out, with a little help from some pyrotechnics specialists.

Here’s a mortar cannon. How far it can fire a ball depends on the size of the cannon…

…the size of the cannonballs, how much gunpowder you use, but also…

…the angle at which the cannon is set.

First, the cannon is set to a high angle – sixty degrees above the horizontal.

Whumpf!

Now pay attention - that’s how far the cannonball went.

For the next shot, the cannon is set to an angle of thirty degrees – a much lower shot.

Whumpf 2!

Perhaps surprisingly, the cannonball splashes at almost exactly the same spot.

How about forty-five degree?

Whumpf 3!

Yes, the cannonball goes noticeably further.

45 degrees is the optimum angle: the ball goes high, but not so high that all the energy from the gunpowder is spent lifting it up rather than flinging it forwards.

It’s not just cannonballs, either – 45 degrees is usually the best angle to launch anything at, to get the best range.