projectile motion equations range equation

Thus, the horizontal displacement is 20 m at 1 second, 40 meters at 2 seconds, 60 meters at 3 seconds, etc. This is consistent with the initial horizontal velocity of 20 m/s. Furthermore, since there is no horizontal acceleration, the horizontal distance traveled by the projectile each second is a constant value - the projectile travels a horizontal distance of 20 meters each second. It can also be seen that the vertical displacement follows the equation above (y = 0.5 In this example, the initial horizontal velocity is 20 m/s and there is no initial vertical velocity (i.e., a case of a horizontally launched projectile).Īs can be seen in the diagram above, the vertical distance fallen from rest during each consecutive second is increasing (i.e., there is a vertical acceleration). The position of the object at 1-second intervals is shown. The diagram below shows the trajectory of a projectile (in red), the path of a projectile released from rest with no horizontal velocity (in blue) and the path of the same object when gravity is turned off (in green). Thus, if the horizontal displacement ( x) of a projectile were represented by an equation, then that equation would be written as x = v ix The horizontal displacement of a projectile is only influenced by the speed at which it moves horizontally ( v ix) and the amount of time ( t) that it has been moving horizontally. It was also discussed earlier, that the force of gravity does not influence the horizontal motion of a projectile. The above equation pertains to a projectile with no initial vertical velocity and as such predicts the vertical distance that a projectile falls if dropped from rest. Where g is -9.8 m/s/s and t is the time in seconds. t 2 (equation for vertical displacement for a horizontally launched projectile).This equation was discussed in Unit 1 of The Physics Classroom.

Thus, the vertical displacement ( y) of a projectile can be predicted using the same equation used to find the displacement of a free-falling object undergoing one-dimensional motion.

As has already been discussed, the vertical displacement (denoted by the symbol y in the discussion below) of a projectile is dependent only upon the acceleration of gravity and not dependent upon the horizontal velocity. Now we will investigate the manner in which the horizontal and vertical components of a projectile's displacement vary with time. The previous diagrams, tables, and discussion pertain to how the horizontal and vertical components of the velocity vector change with time during the course of projectile's trajectory.

Projectile motion equations range equation