Science of Technology

When an object is projected into the air, and the forces of air resistance are negligible, the object moves in two dimensions, with the only acceleration coming from gravity in the vertical plane.

Scenarios that set the stage:

• An object moving horizontally with no acceleration (say, a ball rolling on a horizontal surface);
• An object falling vertically with no horizontal speed (say, an object dropped from an elevated surface);
• An object thrown directly upward with no horizontal speed (say an object launched straight in the air);

Classic scenarios that involve projectile motion:

• An object dropped from a moving airplane;
• An object thrown straight up from a moving train car;
• An object launched out of a cannon at an angle above the horizontal;

Advanced Scenarios:

• An object launched out of a cannon into a window;
• An object launched out of a cannon over a bridge;
• An object launched out of a cannon on a sloped surface;
• An object launched into a vertical cylinder;
• An object launched in a room with a ceiling and walls;
• Two objects colliding in midair;

Background skills:

• given two of the following variables, find the third: horizontal speed, time, horizontal velocity;
• given two of the following variables