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Lesson 4-3 Projectile

Projectile motion is the motion of an object thrown or projected into the air, subject only to
acceleration as a result of gravity. The applications of projectile motion include meteors as they enter
the Earth’s atmosphere, fireworks, and the motion of any ball sports. Such objects are called
projectiles and their path is called trajectory. Two dimensional projectile motion is considered and the
treatment neglects the effects of air resistance.

To analyze two-dimensional projectile motion is to break it into two motions: one along the
horizontal axis and the other along the vertical. (This choice of axes is the most sensible because
acceleration resulting from gravity is vertical; thus, there is no acceleration along the horizontal axis
when air resistance is negligible). The horizontal axis is the x-axis and the vertical axis is the y-axis. It
is not required that we use this choice of axis; it is simply convenient in the case of gravitational
acceleration. In other case, a different set of axes will be chosen.

From the figure below, it illustrates the notation for displacement, where we define ⃗⃗ to be the
total displacement, and ⃗ and are its component vectors along the horizontal and vertical axes.
The magnitudes of these vectors are s, x and y.

Figure 4.11

To describe projectile completely, velocity, acceleration and displacement are included. The
components along the x and y axes must be found. Assuming all forces except gravity (such as air

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resistance and friction) are negligible. Defining the positive direction to be upward, the components of
acceleration are then very simple:

Because, gravity is vertical, ax = 0. If ax = 0, this means the initial velocity in the x direction is
equal to the final velocity in the x direction, or . With these conditions on acceleration and
velocity, we can write the kinematic Equation 4.11 - 4.18 for motion in a uniform gravitational field,
including the rest of the kinematic equations for a constant acceleration from Motion with constant
Acceleration. The kinematic equations for motion in a uniform gravitational field become kinematic
equations with ay = - g, ax = 0:

Horizontal Motion

eqn. 4.19
Vertical Motion

Problem-Solving Strategy: Projectile Motion

1. Resolve the motion into horizontal and vertical components along the x- and y-axes. The
magnitudes of the components of displacement along these axes are x and y. The
magnitudes of the components of velocity ⃗ are vx = vcos and vy = vsin , where v is the
magnitude of the velocity and is its direction relative to the horizontal, as shown in Fig. 4.12.

2. Trear the motion as two independent one-dimensional motions: one horizontal and the other
vertical. Use the kinematic equations for horizontal and vertical motion presented earlier.

3. Solve for unknowns in the two separate motions: one horizontal and one vertical. Note that the
only common variable between the motions is time t. The problem-solving procedures here are
the same as those for one-dimensional kinematics and are illustrated in the following solved
examples.

4. Recombine quantities in the horizontal and vertical directions to find the total displacement and
velocity ⃗ . Solve for the manitude and direction of the displacement and velocity using

where is the direction of the displacement

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 Figure 4.12

Example 4.3A – A Fireworks Projectile Explodes High and Away

During a fireworks display, a shell is shot into the air with an initial speed of 70.0 m/s at an
angle of 75.00 above the horizontal, as illustrated in Figure 4.13. The fuse is timed to ignite the shell
just as it reaches its highest point above the ground. (a) Calculate the height at which the shell
esplodes. (b) How much time passes between the launch of the shell and the explosion? (c) What is
the horizontal displacement of the shell when it explodes? (d) What is the total displacement from the
point of launch to the highest point?

Given:

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Required: a) height b) time between the launch and explosion
c) x d) total displacement from the point of launch to the
highest point
Solution:

Strategy: The motion can be broken into horizontal and vertical motions in which a x = 0 and ay = -g.
Then define x0 and y0 to be zero and solve for the desired quantities.

(a) By “height” we mean the altitude or vertical position y above the starting point. The highest point in
any trajectory, called the apex, is reached when vy = 0. Since we know the initial and final velocities, as
well as the initial position, we use the following equation to find y:

Because y0 and vy are both zero, the equation simplifies to

Solving for y gives

Now we must find the component of the initial velocity in the direction.

It is given by

Where v0 is the initial velocity of 70.0 m/s and 0 = 750 is the initial angle. Thus

And y is

y = 233 m

(b) As in many physics problems. There is more than one way to solve for the time the projectile
reaches its highest point. In this case, the easiest method is to use

Because vy = 0 at the apex, this equation reduces to:

Or

Another way of finding time:

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c) Because air resistance is negligible, ax = 0 and the horizontal velocity is constant. The horizontal
displacement is the horizontal velocity multiplied by the time :

where x0 is equal to zero. Thus :

where vx is the x-component of the velocity, which is given by :

time t for both motions is the same, so x is :

Horizontal motion is a constant velocity in the absence of air resistance. The horizontal
displacement found here could be useful in keeping the fireworks fragments from falling on spectators.
When the shell explodes, air resistance has a major effect and many fragments land directly below.

d) The horizontal and vertical components of the displacement were just calculated, so all that is
needed here is to find the magnitude and direction of the displacement at the highest point:

Note that the anglefor the displacement vector is less than the initial angle of launch. To see
why is this, review Fig. 4.11, which shows the curvature of the trajectory toward the ground level.

The expression used for the calculation of y is valid for any projectile motion when air
resistance is negligible. The maximum height y = h. This equation defines the maximum height of a
projectile above its launch position and it depends only on the vertical component of the initial velocity.

Problem 4.3B Calculating Projectile Motion. A tennis Player

A tennis player wins a match at Arthur Ashe stadium and hits a ball into the stands at 30 m/s
and at an angle 450 above the horizontal (Figure 4.14). On his way down, the ball is caught by a
spectator 10 m above the point where the ball was hit. a) Calculate the time it takes the tennis ball to
reach the spectator. (b) What are the magnitude and direction of the ball’s velocity at impact?

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Given:

Figure 4.14 The Trajectory of a tennis ball hit into the stands

Required: a) t b) magnitude and direction of ball’s velocity at impact

Solution:

Strategy: Resolving this two-dimensional motion into two independent one-dimensional motions
allows us to solve for the desired quantities. The time a projectile is in the air is governed by its vertical
motion alone. Thus, we solve for t first. While the ball is rising and falling vertically, the horizontal
motion continues at a constant velocity. This examplee asks for the final velocity. Thus, we recombine
the vertical and horizontal results to obtain at final time t, determined in the first part of the
example.

a) While the ball is in the air, it rises and then falls to a final position 10.0 m higher than its starting
altitude. We can find the time for this by using Equation 4.22

It we take the initial position y0 to be zero, then the final position is y = 10 m. The initial vertical velocity
is the vertical component of the initial velocity :

substituting into Equation 4.22 for y gives us [ note g = 9.80 m/s2]

10.0 m = (21.2 m/s) t – (4.90 m/s2) t2

Rearranging terms gives a quadratic equation in t :

(4.90 m/s2) t2 – (21.2 m/s) t + 10.0 m = 0

Using the quadratic formula yields t = 3.79 s and t = 0.54 s. Since the ball is at a height of 10 m at two
times during its trajectory – once on the way up and once on the way down – we take the longer
solution for the time it takes the ball o reach the spectator:

t = 3.79 s

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The time for projectile motion is determined completely by the vertical motion. Thus, any projectile that
has an initial vertical velocity of 21.2 m/s and lands 10.0 m below its starting altitude spends 3.79 s in
the air.

b) We can find the final horizontal and vertical velocities vx and vy with the use of the result from (a).
Then we can combine them to find the magnitude of the total velocity vector ⃗ and the angle it
makes with the horizontal. Since vx is constant, we can solve for it at any horizontal location. We
choose the starting point because we know both the initial velocity and the initial angle. Therefore,

The final vertical velocity is given by equation 4.21:

Since
was found in part (a) to be 21.2 m/s, we have

The magnitude of the final velocity ⃗ is

The direction v is found using the inverse tangent:

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Practice Exercise PEM4-3

1. A rock is thrown horizontally off a cliff 100.0 m high with a velocity of 15.0 m/s.
a) Define the origin of the coordinate system
b) Which equation describes the horizontal motion?
c) Which equations describe the vertical motion?
d) What is the rock’s velocity at the point of impact?

2) At a baseball game, a player hits the ball at 20 m/s and at an angle 35 0 above the horizontal. The
ball is caught by the catcher 2 m above the point where the ball was hit. a) Calculate the time it takes
the ball to reach the catcher. (b) What are the magnitude and direction of the ball’s velocity at impact?

7 Module 4 – Motion in Two or Three Dimensions For Instructional Purposes Only

8 Module 4 – Motion in Two or Three Dimensions For Instructional Purposes Only