• Kinematic properties of projectile motion.

Pre-requisite skills:  An understanding of the kinematic equations of motion for constant acceleration.

Approximate completion time:  Under an hour.

Provide sufficient detail to verify that the assignment was completed in a meaningful manner.

CinemaApplet2 aparecerá en un explorador compatible con JDK 1.1.

Applet by Angel Franco Garcia

2. Now consider the case where a projectile is launched at an initial height of 50 meters above ground level, with an initial velocity in the x-direction equal to 10 m/s and the initial velocity in the y-direction equal to 70 m/s.. 

Using the kinematic equations of motion, calculate all you can about the kinematic properties of the projectile at four locations: 

1. at the start of the motion,
2. at the top of the climb,
3. when the projectile reaches the same level (y = 50 m) as it started,
4. when the projectile reaches the y = 0 level. 

Include discussions about the following properties of the projecile (remember, all three are vector quantities, so magnitudes and directions must be specified):

• the displacement
• the total velocity
• the total acceleration

Now set the applet controls to the corresponding values and run the applet to verify your calculations.

3.    Now increase the velocity in the x-direction to v_x = 15 m/s.  When the projectile reachs its original height of y = 50 meters, note the applet data for:

• the maxiumum height of travel
• the horizontal distance of travel

Do the same for v_x = 20 m/s and 30m/s.  How do these results compare?  Explain why this is expected in terms of the acceleration of the projectile.

Helpful Resources

1. Vectors and Motion by Tom Henderson.
2. The Physics Hypertextbook by Glenn Elert (see Mechanics)
3. Physics E-Book - Projectile Motion by Fred Gram (formerly, Zogrseb, of the planet Ktoobirzp).
4. Book of Phyz - Motion by Dean Baird

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