10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 2: Motion in 2-D

IntroductiontoProjectileMotion

LearningGoal:
Tounderstandthebasicconceptsofprojectilemotion.

Projectilemotionmayseemrathercomplexatfirst.However,bybreakingitdownintocomponents,youwillfindthatitisreallyno
differentthantheonedimensionalmotionsthatyouhavealreadystudied.

Oneofthemostoftenusedtechniquesinphysicsistodividetwoandthreedimensionalquantitiesintocomponents.For
instance,inprojectilemotion,aparticlehassomeinitialvelocityv .Ingeneral,thisvelocitycanpointinanydirectiononthexy

planeandcanhaveanymagnitude.Tomakeaproblemmoremanageable,itiscommontobreakupsuchaquantityintoitsx
component(v x )anditsycomponent(v y ).

Consideraparticlewithinitialvelocityv thathasmagnitude12.0
m/sandisdirected60.0degreesabovethenegativexaxis.

PartA
Whatisthexcomponentv x ofv ?

Expressyouranswerinmeterspersecond.
ANSWER:

vx = 6.00 m/s

AnswerRequested

PartB
Whatistheycomponentv y ofv ?

Expressyouranswerinmeterspersecond.
ANSWER:

vy = 10.4 m/s

Correct

Breakingupthevelocitiesintocomponentsisparticularlyusefulwhenthecomponentsdonotaffecteachother.Eventually,you
willlearnaboutsituationsinwhichthecomponentsofvelocitydoaffectoneanother,butfornowyouwillonlybelookingat
problemswheretheydonot.So,ifthereisaccelerationinthexdirectionbutnotintheydirection,thenthexcomponentofthe
velocitywillchange,buttheycomponentofthevelocitywillnot.

PartC
Clickontheimagebelowtolaunchthevideo:ProjectileMotion.Onceyouhavewatchedtheentirevideo,answerthegraded
followupquestions.Youcanwatchthevideoagainatanypoint.

https://session.masteringphysics.com/myct/itemView?view=print&assignmentProblemID=83957175 1/4
10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 2: Motion in 2-D

Themotiondiagramforaprojectileisdisplayed,asarethemotiondiagramsforeachcomponent.Thexcomponentmotion
diagramiswhatyouwouldgetifyoushoneaspotlightdownontheparticleasitmovedandrecordedthemotionofits
shadow.Similarly,ifyoushoneaspotlighttotheleftandrecordedtheparticle'sshadow,youwouldgetthemotiondiagram
foritsycomponent.Howwouldyoudescribethetwomotiondiagramsforthecomponents?
ANSWER:

Boththeverticalandhorizontalcomponentsexhibitmotionwithconstantnonzeroacceleration.

Theverticalcomponentexhibitsmotionwithconstantnonzeroacceleration,whereasthehorizontalcomponent
exhibitsconstantvelocitymotion.

Theverticalcomponentexhibitsconstantvelocitymotion,whereasthehorizontalcomponentexhibitsmotionwith
constantnonzeroacceleration.

Boththeverticalandhorizontalcomponentsexhibitmotionwithconstantvelocity.

Correct
Asyoucansee,thetwocomponentsofthemotionobeytheirownindependentkinematiclaws.Forthevertical
component,thereisanaccelerationdownwardwithmagnitudeg = 10 m/s2 .Thus,youcancalculatethevertical
positionoftheparticleatanytimeusingthestandardkinematicequationy = y0 + v 0 t + (1/2)at2 .Similarly,thereis
noaccelerationinthehorizontaldirection,sothehorizontalpositionoftheparticleisgivenbythestandardkinematic
equationx = x0 + v 0 t.

Now,consideravariationonthisprobleminwhichtwoballsaresimultaneouslydroppedfromaheightof5.0m.Clickonthe
imagebelowtolaunchthesecondvideo:ProjectileMotion.Onceyouhavewatchedtheentirevideo,answerthegradedfollow
upquestions.Youcanwatchthevideoagainatanypoint.

https://session.masteringphysics.com/myct/itemView?view=print&assignmentProblemID=83957175 2/4
10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 2: Motion in 2-D

PartD
Howlongtg doesittakefortheballstoreachtheground?Use10m/s2 forthemagnitudeoftheaccelerationdueto
gravity.
Expressyouranswerinsecondstotwosignificantfigures.

Hint1.Howtoapproachtheproblem
Theballsarereleasedfromrestataheightof5.0mattimet = 0 s.Usingthesenumbersandbasickinematics,you
candeterminetheamountoftimeittakesfortheballstoreachtheground.

ANSWER:

tg = 1.0 s

Correct
Thissituation,whichyouhavedealtwithbefore(motionundertheconstantaccelerationofgravity),isactuallyaspecial
caseofprojectilemotion.Thinkofthisasprojectilemotionwherethehorizontalcomponentoftheinitialvelocityiszero.

PartE
Imaginetheballontheleftisgivenanonzeroinitialspeedinthehorizontaldirection,whiletheballontherightcontinuesto
fallwithzeroinitialvelocity.Whathorizontalspeedv x musttheballontheleftstartwithsothatithitsthegroundatthesame
positionastheballontheright?Rememberthatwhenthetwoballsarereleased,theyarestartingatahorizontaldistanceof
3.0mapart.

Expressyouranswerinmeterspersecondtotwosignificantfigures.

Hint1.Howtoapproachtheproblem
RecallfromPartBthatthehorizontalcomponentofvelocitydoesnotchangeduringprojectilemotion.Therefore,you
needtofindthehorizontalcomponentofvelocityv x suchthat,inatimetg = 1.0 s,theballwillmovehorizontally
3.0m.Youcanassumethatitsinitialxcoordinateisx0 = 0.0 m .

ANSWER:

https://session.masteringphysics.com/myct/itemView?view=print&assignmentProblemID=83957175 3/4
10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 2: Motion in 2-D

vx = 3.0 m/s

Correct

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