13: Optimization
- Page ID
- 84525
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In in the previous chapter you were asked to find the best launch angle for a human cannonball, meaning the angle that maximizes the distance traveled before landing. This kind of problem, finding minimums and maximums, is called optimization.
In this chapter, we’ll solve a similar problem, finding the best launch angle for a baseball. We’ll solve the problem two ways, first running simulations with a range of values and plotting the results, then using a MATLAB function that automates the process, fminsearch.