Projectile Motion

nonlinear motion:
Motion along a curved path. Throw
a tennis ball and the path it follows
is a combination of constant-velocity
horizontal motion and accelerated
vertical motion.
Projectile Motion

A projectile is any object that moves through the air or

space, acted on only by gravity (and air resistance, if
any).

Examples of projectiles:

A basketball shot into the hoop, a tennis ball rolling off

the table, and when a baseball is hit by a player with a
home run

To find measurements of a curved object scenarios:

*****Solve for horizontal and vertical components of

motion separately******
Projectile Motion

Projectile motion can be separated into components.

a. Roll a ball along a horizontal surface, and its
velocity is constant because no component of
gravitational force acts horizontally.
b. Drop it, and it accelerates downward and covers a
greater vertical distance each second.
Projectile Motion

**Horizontal component of motion for a projectile is

completely independent of the vertical component of
motion for X and Y axes

Each component is independent of the other.

Procedures for solving projectile motion word prob-
lems!!!
 1) ALWAYS draw a picture first of the scenario
 2) Label in detail, everything you are given from the problem (ex. Height is 100 m, label height as 100m
next to your drawing)
 3) Draw a T-chart and separate into two components (x and the y)
 4) Write everything you know from the problem. Label all units and variables
 5) On the left side of the chart, put down the x component solve
 6) On the right side of the chart, put down the y component and solve
 7) After solving for the unknown, use the substitution method to find the missing variable into the other
equation
 8) Solve out unknown value
Example Problem 1
 A soccer ball is kicked horizontally off a 22.0-meter high hill and lands a distance of 35.0 meters from the
edge of the hill. Determine the initial horizontal velocity of the soccer ball.
Projectile Motion Example 2
 A ball of string leaves a 1.5-meter high table with an initial horizontal velocity of 2.0 m/s. Predict the time re-
quired for the string ball to fall to the ground and the horizontal distance between the table's edge and the
ball's landing location.
 Projectiles Launched Horizontally

At the instant a horizontally pointed rifle is fired, a bullet held at the rifle’s side
is released and the bullet drops to the ground. Which bullet strikes the ground
first, the one fired from the rifle or the one dropped?
Bullet Fired vs Bullet Dropped