in a frictionless vacuum, 45°, otherwise (on earth), aim to have the projectile release when the arm is at about 40° from the base
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The [horizontal] range of a projectile is maximised when it shoots at a 45 degree angle. This is true if air resistance is ignored so that the only force acting on the projectile is gravity.
The difference of these two is that pullback is how far and launch angle is the elevation. I'm not sure but you can check on Science Buddies or just google it .
Easy . Think of it like this. The higher you angle your catapult (or whatever your using.) The higher it will travel but it will have less power. If you have a lower angle you will have more power but it your projectile will hit the ground first. If you don't understand just play around with a slingshot and an empty can of soda. Or you could test it out this theory by playing around with angry birds ;)
An acute angle is less than 90 degrees.