Physics 2 Quiz

Projectile Motion

w/o gravity, a tossed object that follows a straight line path, w/ gravity the same object tossed at an angle that follows a curved path

Projectile

any object that moves through the air or space under the influence of gravity

Projectile motion is a combination of?

horizontal and vertical components

Projectiles launched horizontally

Does not change, the ball travels the same horizontal distance in equal times, remains constant

projectile launched vertically

become farther apart with time, gravity acts downward so the ball accelerates downward

curvature of path

the combination of horizontal and vertical components of motion

parabola

curved path of a projectile that undergoes acceleration only in the vertical direction, while moving horizontally at a constant speed 

projectiles launched at an angle

vertical and horizontal components are independent of each other

rules of projectile motion

the x and y directions of motion are completely independent of each other, the x direction is uniform motion, the y direction is free fall, the initial velocity can be broken down into its x and y components

equation for motion in the X direction

Vx = ViCOS(0)

equation for motion in y

Vy=ViSIN(0)-g(t)

path of projectile following a parabolic trajectory

horizontal component along trajectory remains unchanged, only vertical component changes, velocity at any point is computed with pythagorean theorem

without air resistance…

the time for a projectile to reach maximum height is the same as the time for it to return to its initial level

different horizontal distances

same range is obtained from two different launching angles when the angles add up to 90 (60+30), maximum range occurs for ideal launch at 45, with air resistance the maximum range occurs for a baseball batted at less than 45 above the horizontal (~25-34), w/ air resistance the maximum range occurs when a golfball is hit at an angle less than 38