Projectile Motion

Objectives:
• Analyzed and describe the Motion of free falling
body and a projectile;
• Design and conduct an experiment that show the
motion of projectile;
• Solve problems relating to projectile motion.
Motion of a Projectile

• An object thrown with an initial horizontal velocity and

acted upon by the earth’s pull of gravity is known as a
projectile.

• Projectile motion is a combination of vertical and

horizontal motion that is completely independent of each
other.

• A projectile travels in a curved path called trajectory.

Horizontal and Vertical Projection

• Vertical component (vy)

• Horizontal Component (vx)
• Actual Velocity (vR)
vR= √ vx2 + vy2
 Cont’d

• Maximum Height (dy)

dy = gt2/2
• Horizontal Distance (dx)
d x = vx * t
Sample Problem

Anton claims that he can throw a dart at a

dartboard from a distance of 2.0 m and hit
the 5.0-cm wide bull’s-eye if he throws the
dart with a speed of 20 m/s. He starts the
throw at the same height as the top of the
bull’s eye. Will Anton hit the bull’s eye?
Sample Problem

• Paul is standing outside the physics

laboratory 7m from the wall. Peter by
a window 5m above the ground,
tosses a ball horizontally. Find the
speed that peter should give the ball to
reach Paul.
 Projections at Arbitrary Angles

• Vix = Vix cos ᶿ

• Viy = Viy sin ᶿ
 Cont’d

When solving for Vertical distance (d y) we

use the equation for uniformly accelerated
motion, where…
• dy = viyt + ½ gt2
• dy = vfy2 - viy2/2g
 Cont’d

To find the vertical velocity (vy)

we use the equation…
• vfy = viy + gt
 Cont’d

The time for a projectile to rise

can be solved by the equation
• t = vi sin ᶿ/g
 Cont’d

To find the total time (t’) of flight

that a projectile is in the air we use
the equation…
• t‘ = 2vi sinᶿ/g
 Cont’d

To find maximum height, we

use the equation…
• dy = (vi sinᶿ)2/2g
 Cont’d

The maximum horizontal distance

known as range (R) can be computed
by the equation….
• R = vi2 sin 2ᶿ/g
Sample problem

A long jumper leaves the

ground at the angle of 30ᵒ to the
horizontal and at a speed of 12
m/s. How far does he jump?
 True or False

1. A projectile is a combination of a vertical and horizontal

motion.

2. A projectile travels in a straight path known as trajectory.

3. We use the COS of an angle to find the initial velocity of a

horizontal component.

4. We use the equation t = vi sinᶿ/g to find total time.

5. The Maximum horizontal distance is known as range.

Assignment

1. What is impulse?
2. What is Momentum?
3. Which do you think has a greater momentum, an
airplane parked in a hangar or a car moving down the
hill? Why?
4. The Law of Conservation of Momentum states what?