Lesson Plan

Describe projectile motion and explain why horizontal and vertical motions are independent

Resolve a launch velocity into horizontal and vertical components

Apply the kinematic equations separately to horizontal (a_x = 0) and vertical (a_y = −g) motion

Solve for time, height, and horizontal displacement, recombining components into total displacement and velocity

Calculate the maximum height and the level-ground range of a projectile and state the conditions under which the range formula applies

5.3

"The most important concept in projectile motion is that when air resistance is ignored, horizontal and vertical motions are independent, meaning that they don't influence one another." "This equation defines the maximum height of a projectile. The maximum height depends only on the vertical component of the initial velocity." (h = v_0y²/(2g)) "When air resistance is negligible, the range R of a projectile on level ground is R = v_0² sin 2θ_0 / g ... It is important to note that the range doesn't apply to problems where the initial and final y position are different, or to cases where the object is launched perfectly horizontally."