If you know your projectile motion, you

can make sledding a bit more fun

Or you can perform feats like.???

Demo: Shoot the Monkey!

Where should the
banana cannon be
aimed in order for the
monkey to catch the
banana, IF the monkey
lets go of the branch
at the instant the
banana is fired?

Aim Above, At, or Below??

AT the Monkey!
Aim ______

Why??

Lets take a look

1st a Review of Free Fall:

How far does an object Either of the
following
fall if g = 10 m/s2 in
formulas can
5 m
1 second? _____
be used:
20 m
2 seconds? _____
45 m
3 seconds? _____

v1 t

d = _____
gt

d = _____
2

With those free-fall distances in mind, lets

take another look at a horizontal projectile
5 m
20 m

Path if NO
gravity

45 m

Again, with those free-fall distances in mind,

lets now take a look at a projectile that was
launched at an angle

5 m

20 m

45 m

So, how does this explain the

Shoot the Monkey Demo?
Monkey here initially

Monkey here after 3

seconds of free fall the
same place as the banana
at this time!!

How does the initial velocity of the

banana (projectile) affect this situation?
higher the
The higher the velocity, the _______
banana is caught by the monkey.
Higher Initial Velocity

Lower Initial Velocity

What would happen if the banana

cannon were aimed above the monkey?

An Example Problem:

=2

5m
/s

A football leaves a punters foot at 25 m/s and at a

60 angle with the horizontal. Find the horizontal
velocity and the initial vertical velocity. v

cos 60

Viy =21.7 m/s

60

Vx=12.5 m/s

sin 60

So, if the punter were moving horizontally at

12.5
m/s and then threw the football directly
______
up at _______,
21.7 m/s the resulting trajectory of the
football would be exactly the same as if he
had punted it at 25 m/s at a 60 angle.

25
vi y
25

Calculate the hang time (total time in the air)

for the football, assuming it was punted and
caught at the same height above the ground.
Since the force of gravity is down, it can
vertical component
only decelerate the ___________
of the initial velocity.

vi y

21.7
2.2 s
tup

g
9.8
Or use the
v f y vi y gt
velocity formula:
0 21.7 9.8 tup

ttotal tup x 2 4.4 s

Calculate the horizontal distance that the

football traveled.
Recall that the acceleration in the x direction
is ______,
ZERO so the distance is ONLY dependent
speed and ________________.
total time
on horizontal
________________

d x vxt

d x 12.5 m
d x 55 m

s 4.4s

Calculate the footballs maximum height

above where it was kicked.
up
The time to reach the max height is ______,
2.2 s
which in this case is ______.

1 2
d y vi y t gt
2

Defining the up direction as +

1 2
gt
2

1
2
d y 21.7 2.2 9.8 2.2
2

d y 24 m

or d y

0 21.7
v y t 2 2 .2

A look at the Velocity Vectors:

another animation from

The Physics Classroom

website...

A look at the velocity values for a projectile launched at an angle:

10 m/s
20 m/s

10 m/s

10 m/s

10 m/s
10 m/s2
10 m/s

10 m/s

(down)

10 m/s

30 m/s
20 m/s
10 m/s

10 m/s

40 m/s

If tup = 4 s,
vi = 10 m/s2
x 4s

30 m/s

10 m/s

How would the speed at 1 sec compare

to the speed at 7 sec? Same Speed!

After adding vectors head to tail

40 m/s
2

v2=102+30

A look at a projectile thrown down at an angle:

5 m
20 m

45 m

1 2
d y gt
2
t=1s- 5 m
t = 2 s - 20 m
t = 3s - 45 m
3.5 s

A Review Example:
Joe Physics, accident
investigator extraordinaire,
is asked to determine
whether or not a car was speeding before it crashed
through the guard rail of a bridge as shown. The
posted Speed Limit was 55 mph (24 m/s). What is
his conclusion? Hint: the car is a horizontal
___________
projectile. The time to reach the ground below is
the same time as to free fall
____________________________.

1 2
d y vi y t gt
2
1
2
4.9 9.8 t t 1 s
2

d x vxt
24 v x 1

v x 24 m

Busted!
Why?

Question: What angle should a projectile

be fired to produce the maximum range
(horizontal distance when projectile
begins and ends at the same height)?

To answer this question, we are going to find

an expression for the horizontal distance
(range) traveled given the initial velocity vi
and the angle .

vi

viy

vx

Find expressions for vx & viy:

vx
cos
vi
vi y
sin

vi

v x vi cos
vi y vi sin

Find an expression for the time in the air:

vi y

vi sin
tup

g
g

ttotal tup

2vi sin
x2
g

Find an expression for the horizontal

distance (range):

d x Range v x t
2vi sin

d x Range vi cos
g

vi
2 sin cos
d x Range
g
At this point, we can go no further in our
derivation until we discover a trig identity

What are Trig Identities?

An equation involving trig functions that are
true for all possible values of the variable.
For example:

sin cos 1
2

true!

Try any angle and the equation is

2 sin cos

A double-angle
sin 2 trig identity:

Back to our equation for the Range:

2

vi
2 sin cos
d x Range
g
Substituting the double-angle trig identity:
2

vi
Range
sin 2
g
This equation is very useful when you are
asked for the range or horizontal distance of
a projectile, but you do NOT know the time!
time

Use this Range Equation to investigate

what launch angle will produce the greatest
2
range: Range vi sin 2
If vi = 20 m/s & =
2

20
30 Range
sin 60 35.3 m
9.8

20
45 Range
sin 90 40.8 m
9 .8
2
20

60 Range
sin 120 35.3 m
9.8

Conclusions:

45 launch angle will produce the

A _____
maximum range!
90 = ___
1 in this case.
sin(2) = sin___
_____________
Complementary angles (angles that add up

90 produce the same range!

to _____)

*But, this is true ONLY if no air resistance.

With air, a launch angle a

less than 45 will produce the maximum range!
little ______

The following website can be found by

googling Projectile Motion Java Applet:
http://galileo.phys.virginia.edu/classes/109N/more_stuff/Applets/ProjectileMotion/jarapplet.html

Investigate different angles with and without air.