Projectile Motion

• PROJECTILE: An object thrown with an initial horizontal velocity and acted upon by the Earth's pull of gravity
• TYPES OF PROJECTILE:

  1. Horizontal projectile motion
  2. Vertical projectile motion
  3. Incline projectile motion
• PARTS OF A PROJECTILE:

  Trajectory: The parabolic or curved path followed by a projectile
• PARTS OF A PROJECTILE;

  Range (x): The maximum horizontal distance covered by a projectile
• PARTS OF A PROJECTILE:

  Maximum height (h): The highest vertical position of a projectile along its trajectory
• PARTS OF A PROJECTILE:

  Horizontal Velocity (Vx): The horizontal component of the projectile's velocity that is constant throughout the flight
• PARTS OF PROJECTILE:

  Vertical Velocity (Vy): The vertical component of the projectile's velocity that can be compared to an object experiencing free fall (constant acceleration)
• PARTS OF PROJECTILE:

  • x - range
  • h - height
  • V - velocity
  • Vy - vertical velocity
  • Vx - horizontal velocity
  • y - initial height
  • a - angle of launch
  • t - time of flight
• INITIAL SPEED AND RANGE:

  • The horizontal displacement of a projectile is dependent upon the horizontal component of the initial velocity
  • SAME ANGLE OF RELEASE: Greater initial speed will lead to greater range
• PROJECTILE AND AIR RESISTANCE:

  When the effect of air resistance is significant, a drag (slow down effect) takes place causing changes to the following:

  • Decrease in range
  • Decrease in maximum height
  • Non parabolic trajectory
  • Non constant acceleration
• EFFECT OF LAUNCH ANGLE TO TIME AND HEIGHT:

  If the same object is launched at the same initial velocity, the height and time of flight will increase proportionally to the initial launch angle.
• EFFECT OF LAUNCH ANGLE TO RANGE:

  • Same range is obtained from two different projection angles - complementary angles
  • A maximum range is attained when an object is launched 45° horizontally
• KEY POINTS:

  • The horizontal and vertical motions are completely independent from each other. Thus, can be related separately.
  • Projectiles ALWAYS maintain a constant horizontal velocity (Vfx = Vix)
  • Projectiles always experience a CONSTANT acceleration along the vertical dimension (a = 9.81 m/s²) V, changes.