Level 5 Physics qualifying question is really math?

Hello all of you Brilliant people! haha.

I very recently just made my account (like, an hour ago, haha) and I was doing the qualifying problems with physics. Note that I have never taken a comprehensive physics class in my life. Thus I was unable to do many of the problems in even level 2 and 3.

However, I was able to do the level 5 question, and now I am in level 5. Why? Because while I may not be good with physics, I am good with math. And the level 5 question was really a math question with a physics base.

For those who don't know, the question was: You have a disc on the x-y plane starting at the origin. You launch the disk and elastically hit a wall with equation y = x - 2, crossing the y-axis again at y=1. What angle (in radians) did you launch the disc from?

So now I am forced to be in level 5, but I don't know how to do the problems because I am not knowledgable in physics. I am not too sad about that, but I wonder, why was this the chosen question?

Easy Math Editor

This discussion board is a place to discuss our Daily Challenges and the math and science related to those challenges. Explanations are more than just a solution — they should explain the steps and thinking strategies that you used to obtain the solution. Comments should further the discussion of math and science.

When posting on Brilliant:

Use the emojis to react to an explanation, whether you're congratulating a job well done , or just really confused .
Ask specific questions about the challenge or the steps in somebody's explanation. Well-posed questions can add a lot to the discussion, but posting "I don't understand!" doesn't help anyone.
Try to contribute something new to the discussion, whether it is an extension, generalization or other idea related to the challenge.
Stay on topic — we're all here to learn more about math and science, not to hear about your favorite get-rich-quick scheme or current world events.

Markdown	Appears as
`italics` or `_italics_`	italics
`bold` or `__bold__`	bold
- bulleted - list	bulleted list
1. numbered 2. list	numbered list
Note: you must add a full line of space before and after lists for them to show up correctly
paragraph 1 paragraph 2	paragraph 1 paragraph 2
`[example link](https://brilliant.org)`	example link
`> This is a quote`	This is a quote
# I indented these lines # 4 spaces, and now they show # up as a code block. print "hello world"	# I indented these lines # 4 spaces, and now they show # up as a code block. print "hello world"

Math	Appears as
Remember to wrap math in `$` ... `$` or `\[` ... `\]` to ensure proper formatting.
`2 \times 3`	$2 \times 3$
`2^{34}`	$2^{34}$
`a_{i-1}`	$a_{i-1}$
`\frac{2}{3}`	$\frac{2}{3}$
`\sqrt{2}`	$\sqrt{2}$
`\sum_{i=1}^3`	$\sum_{i=1}^3$
`\sin \theta`	$\sin \theta$
`\boxed{123}`	$\boxed{123}$

Comments

I can't reply to your question, but if you want to downgrade you can send an email to [email protected] with your request and they'll downgrade you ;)

Luca Bernardelli - 7 years, 10 months ago

weird

Jason Kang - 7 years, 10 months ago

If you have to low your level down just make a problem wrong without doing other problems correct

Karan Kewalramani - 7 years, 10 months ago

Me too

Daniel Leong - 7 years, 10 months ago

Math	Appears as
Remember to wrap math in `\(` ... `\)` or `\[` ... `\]` to ensure proper formatting.
`2 \times 3`	$2 \times 3$
`2^{34}`	$2^{34}$
`a_{i-1}`	$a_{i-1}$
`\frac{2}{3}`	$\frac{2}{3}$
`\sqrt{2}`	$\sqrt{2}$
`\sum_{i=1}^3`	$\sum_{i=1}^3$
`\sin \theta`	$\sin \theta$
`\boxed{123}`	$\boxed{123}$