Projectile Motion Examples in Real Life: Sports and More

📚 Quick Study Guide

• 🎯 Projectile motion is the motion of an object thrown or projected into the air, subject only to gravity and air resistance.
• 🍎 The path a projectile follows is called its trajectory, which is typically parabolic.
• 📐 Key formulas include:
  • Horizontal displacement: $x = v_{0x}t$
  • Vertical displacement: $y = v_{0y}t - \frac{1}{2}gt^2$
  • Vertical velocity: $v_y = v_{0y} - gt$
  • Where $v_{0x}$ is the initial horizontal velocity, $v_{0y}$ is the initial vertical velocity, $t$ is time, and $g$ is the acceleration due to gravity ($9.8 m/s^2$).
• ⏱️ Time of flight depends on the initial vertical velocity and the acceleration due to gravity.
• ⛰️ Maximum range is achieved when the projectile is launched at an angle of 45 degrees (ignoring air resistance).

🤔 Practice Quiz

1. What is the shape of the trajectory of a projectile?
   1. A. Circle
   2. B. Parabola
   3. C. Straight Line
   4. D. Hyperbola
2. A soccer ball is kicked with an initial velocity of 20 m/s at an angle of 30 degrees above the horizontal. What is the initial vertical component of the velocity?
   1. A. 10 m/s
   2. B. 17.3 m/s
   3. C. 20 m/s
   4. D. 0 m/s
3. Ignoring air resistance, what is the acceleration of a projectile in the vertical direction?
   1. A. 0 m/s²
   2. B. 9.8 m/s² downwards
   3. C. 9.8 m/s² upwards
   4. D. Depends on the initial velocity
4. At what angle should a projectile be launched to achieve the maximum range (ignoring air resistance)?
   1. A. 0 degrees
   2. B. 45 degrees
   3. C. 90 degrees
   4. D. 60 degrees
5. A basketball is thrown towards the hoop. What force(s) act on the basketball during its flight (ignoring air resistance)?
   1. A. Only the initial force applied by the player
   2. B. Gravity and the initial force
   3. C. Only Gravity
   4. D. Gravity and a constant upward force
6. What happens to the vertical velocity of a projectile as it reaches its maximum height?
   1. A. It increases
   2. B. It decreases
   3. C. It becomes zero
   4. D. It remains constant
7. A baseball is hit with an initial horizontal velocity of 30 m/s. If it's in the air for 3 seconds, how far does it travel horizontally?
   1. A. 10 m
   2. B. 30 m
   3. C. 90 m
   4. D. 120 m