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Projectile Motion

1) Projectile motion describes the trajectory of objects under the influence of gravity. Objects like thrown balls, dropped objects, and bullets are all examples of projectiles. 2) A projectile's trajectory is affected by its initial velocity and acceleration due to gravity. It can be modeled using equations that describe the independent horizontal and vertical motions. 3) The path of a projectile is parabolic in shape due to the constant gravitational acceleration and the independence of horizontal and vertical motions.

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75 views2 pages

Projectile Motion

1) Projectile motion describes the trajectory of objects under the influence of gravity. Objects like thrown balls, dropped objects, and bullets are all examples of projectiles. 2) A projectile's trajectory is affected by its initial velocity and acceleration due to gravity. It can be modeled using equations that describe the independent horizontal and vertical motions. 3) The path of a projectile is parabolic in shape due to the constant gravitational acceleration and the independence of horizontal and vertical motions.

Uploaded by

gnik02
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Projectile motion 

is one of the traditional branches of classical mechanics, with applications


to ballistics. A projectile is any body that is given an initial velocity and then follows a path determined by the
effect of the gravitational acceleration and by air resistance. For example, a thrown football, an object dropped
from an airplane, or a bullet shot from a gun are all examples of projectiles. Projectile motion may only be used
to solve mechanics problems if the acceleration is constant.

The path followed by a projectile is called its trajectory. It is affected by gravity.

The initial velocity v0 can be written as:

The components v0x and v0y can be found if the angle θ0 is known:

v0x = v0cosθ0
and

v0y = v0sinθ0

Without air resistance


The horizontal motion and the vertical motion are independent of each other; that is, neither motion affects the
other.

Since there is no acceleration in the horizontal direction, the horizontal component of the velocity remains
unchanged throughout the motion.

The horizontal displacement

x − x0
from an initial position x0 is given by the equation

with a = 0 and v0x = v0cosθ0. Thus

x − x0 = (v0cosθ0)t.
The vertical motion is the motion of a particle in free fall. Equations for free fall apply. For

example,  .

Other useful equations for the vertical y-axis are

 vy = v0sinθ0 − gt, and  .

Eliminating t between the following two equations, 


x − x0 = (v0cosθ0)t and  ,

we obtain the equation of the path (the trajectory) of the projectile:

Time to reach the maximum height

Time to reach ground

Displacement in X direction

Δx = v0xt

Displacement in Y direction

Range of projectile

Maximum height

Parabolic trajectory
Since g, θ0, and v0 are constants, the above equation is of the form

y = ax + bx2,
in which a and b are constants. This is the equation of a parabola, so the path is parabolic.

The horizontal range R of the projectile is the horizontal distance the projectile has traveled when it returns to its
initial height:
Note that R has its maximum value when sin2θ0 = 1, which corresponds to

   or  .

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