Ronnie kicks a playground ball with an initial velocity of 16 m/s at an angle of 40° relative to the ground. What is the approximate horizontal component of the initial velocity?

The horizontal component is the initial speed multiplied by the cosine of the angle above the ground: 16 cos(40°) ≈ 16 × 0.766 ≈ 12.3 m/s. Therefore, the approximate horizontal component is 12.3 m/s, choice D.

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