Projectile Motion

Motion In Two Dimensions

• Projectile motion refers
to the motion of an
object that is thrown, or
projected into the air at
an angle.
• The motion of a projectile
is determined only by the
object’s initial velocity and
gravity.
Projectile motion is a combination
of horizontal motion and vertical
motion.
 
The horizontal motion of a
projectile is constant because no
gravitational force acts
horizontally
The vertical motion
of a projectile is
nothing more than
free fall
with a constant
downward
acceleration due to
gravity.
A projectile moves
horizontally with constant
velocity
while being accelerated
vertically. The result is a
motion
in a curved path.
y v0

x
y

x
y

x
y

x
y

x
y

•Motion is accelerated
•Acceleration is constant,
and downward
• a = g = -9.8 m/s2
•The horizontal (x)
component of velocity is
g = -9.8 m/s2 constant
•The horizontal and
vertical motions are
independent of each other,
x
but they have a common
time
The path of a projectile is
called its trajectory.
 
The trajectory of a
projectile in free fall is a
parabola.
A projectile, once projected,
continues in motion by its own
inertia and is influenced only by
the downward force of gravity.
An object projected
horizontally will reach the
ground in the same time as an
object dropped vertically.

No matter how large the

horizontal velocity is, the
downward pull of gravity is
always the same.
The cannonball falls the same amount of distance as it did when it was merely
dropped from rest
 PROJECTILE MOTION

d
d
dx= horizontal distance
dy= maximum height
PROBLEM NO 1:
A ball is thrown horizontally out
of the window with a velocity of
3.5 m/s. if the window is 5 m
above the ground, how far will
the ball travel before it hits the
ground?
PROBLEM NO 2:

A gardener hold a hose 0.75m

above the ground such that
water shoots out horizontally
and hits the ground at a point of
2 m away. What is the speed
with which the water leaves the
hose?
 QUIZ
1. A package is dropped from the helicopter
flying at a height of 7.5m while travelling
15m/s. How far the package travel
horizontally before it hits the ground?
2. An orange rolls across a table with a
velocity of 0.5m/s and falls off the edge.
If it lands 3m from the edge of the table
from what height does it fall?