MECHANICS

1
G8 - 1

PROJECTILE MOTION

Describe the motion of a projectile

Specific Objectives
1. Analyze the motion of a free falling body and a projectile
2. Explain the motion of a projectile
3. Calculate the distances travelled by the projectile

Materials
 Pen
 Ruler

Lesson Digest

Have you ever noticed how a basketball player makes a three-point score? How will you
trace the path the ball goes? The ball is thrown with an initial velocity and travels a curved
path.
An object tha is thrown with an initial horizontal velocity and acted upon the earth’s pull of
gravity is known as a projectile. A projectile travels in a curved path called the trajectory.

A projectile is an object upon which the only force acting is gravity. There are a variety of
examples of projectiles. An object dropped from rest is a projectile (provided that the

1
influence of air resistance is negligible). An object that is thrown vertically upward is also a
projectile (provided that the influence of air resistance is negligible).
And an object which is thrown upward at an angle to the horizontal is also a projectile
(provided that the influence of air resistance is negligible). A projectile is any object that
once projected or dropped continues in motion by its own inertia and is influenced only by
the downward force of gravity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=DgmPpdVKayQ

Horizontally Launched Projectiles

Imagine a cannonball being launched from a cannon atop a very high cliff. Imagine as well
that the cannonball does not encounter a significant amount of air resistance. What will be the
path of the cannonball and how can the motion of the cannonball be described? The picture
below depicts such a situation. The path of the cannonball is shown; additionally, the
horizontal and vertical velocity components are represented by arrows.

2
As can be seen in the picture, the cannonball follows a parabolic path. As the cannonball
falls, it undergoes a downward acceleration. A downward moving cannonball which is
gaining speed is said to have a downward acceleration. In the animation, the downward
acceleration is depicted by a change in the vertical component of velocity. This downward
acceleration is caused by a downward force of gravity which acts upon the ball. If the ball's
motion can be approximated as projectile motion (that is, if the influence of air resistance can
be assumed negligible), then there will be no horizontal acceleration. In the absence of
horizontal forces, there would be a constant velocity in the horizontal direction. In the
animation, this is depicted by the fact that the horizontal velocity component remains the
same size throughout the entire motion of the cannonball.
Many would insist that there is a horizontal force acting upon the cannonball since it is
moving horizontally. Yet this is simply not the case. The horizontal motion of the cannonball
is the result of its own inertia. When launched from the cannon, the cannonball already
possessed a horizontal motion, and thus will maintain this state of horizontal motion unless
acted upon by a horizontal force. An object in motion will continue in motion with the same
speed and in the same direction ... (Newton's first law). Remind your self continuously:
forces are not required for an object to be moving; once in motion, the presence of forces will
only serve to accelerate such objects.
Example:
Anton claim that he can throw a dart at a dartboard from a distance of 2.0 m and hit
the 5. cm wide bull’s eye if he throws the dart horizontally 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?

Given: dx = 2.0 m
Vix = 20 m/s

Find: dy = ?

Solution : dx = vx . t

Solving for t : t = dx / vix = 2.0 m / 20 m/s

t = 0.1 sec.

now that we have determined t ( which is the same time it will cover dy)
we can now solve for dy

dy = gt2 / 2
= ( 9.8 m/s2 ) (0.1 s)2 / 2
= 0.049 m or 4.9 cm

Anton will hit the bull’s eye , The flight of a projectile can be described in terms of
horizontal and vertical components . So when solving projectile motion problems, the

3
 first task to resolve fot the velocity of the projectile into its horizontal and vertical
components. The components are treated separately.

EXERCISES

SOLVE:
A little girl throws her jackstone ball horizontally out of the window with a velocity of 30
m/s. If the window is 3 m above the ground level, then how far will the ball travel before it
hits the ground?

CLOSURE

Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter on a separate sheet of paper

References

Palima, D. Z.;Ines, M. B. Physics, Phoenix Science Series Textbook, 2004. Page 84.

Navaza, D. C.;Valdez, B. J. Physics, You and the Natural World Second Edition, 2000. Pages 46-48.

Body Physics: Motion to Metabolism. Chapter 42 Human Stability. Retrieved from

https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/bodyphysics/chapter/body-stability/#navigation

Center of Gravity , Canvas Student, Located at

https://sjsu.instructure.com/courses/1209211/quizzes/1170211?module_item_id=8630631

Equilibrium. Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/science/equilibrium-physics

Devera2020 second draft