2 Mechanics

We all know what happens when a ball is thrown; it follows a curved path
like the one in the photo below. We can see from this photo that the path
is parabolic, and later we will show why that is the case.

A stroboscopic photograph of a
projected ball.

Modelling projectile motion

All examples of motion up to this point have been in one dimension but
projectile motion is two-dimensional. However, if we take components
of all the vectors vertically and horizontally, we can simplify this into two
simultaneous one-dimensional problems. The important thing to realise
is that the vertical and horizontal components are independent of each
other; you can test this by dropping a stone off a cliff and throwing one
forward at the same time, they both hit the bottom together. The
downward motion is not altered by the fact that one is also moving
forward.
Consider a ball that is projected at an angle U to the horizontal, as shown
in Figure 2.23. We can split the motion into three parts, beginning, middle
and end, and analyse the vectors representing displacement, velocity and
time at each stage. Note that since the path is symmetrical, the motion on
the way down is the same as the way up.

Figure 2.23 A projectile launched at B

an angle U.

v
g
h
g Max height

A C

R
Range
v

28

M02_IBPH_SB_HIGGLB_4426_U02.indd 28 29/6/10 11:50:29

 Horizontal components
At A (time  0) At B (time  __t) At C (time  t)
2
Displacement zero R
Displacement __ Displacement R
2
Velocity v cos U Velocity v cos U Velocity v cos U
Acceleration 0 Acceleration 0 Acceleration 0

Vertical components
At A At B At C
Displacement zero Displacement h Displacement zero
Velocity v sin U Velocity zero Velocity v sin U
Acceleration g Acceleration g Acceleration g

We can see that the vertical motion is constant acceleration and the horizontal
Parabolic path
motion is constant velocity. We can therefore use the suvat equations.
Since the horizontal displacement
is proportional to t the path has the
suvat for horizontal motion same shape as a graph of vertical
Since acceleration is zero there is only one equation needed to define the motion displacement plotted against time.
This is parabolic since the vertical
suvat A to C displacement is proportional to t2.

Velocity v  _s R  v cos Ut

t

suvat for vertical motion

When considering the vertical motion it is worth splitting the motion into two parts.
suvat At B At C

s  _12 (u v)t t
h  _12 (v sin U)__ 0  _12 (v sin U v sin U)t
2
v2 u2 2as 0 v2 sin2U 2gh (v sin U)2 (v sin U)2 0

s ut  _12 at2 (" )

t
h v sin Ut  _12 g __
2
2 0 v sin Ut  _12 gt2
v u
a  ______ v sin U 0
g _________ v sin U v
sin U
g _______________
t t
__ t
2
Some of these equations are not very useful since they simply state that 0  0.
However we do end up with three useful ones (highlighted) : Maximum range
R  v cos U t (1) For a given value of v the maximum

0  v 2 sin 2U  2gh or v 2 sin2 U(2)

h  _______
range is when v cos U t is a
2g maximum value. Now t  ______2v sin
g
U.

2v sin If we substitute this for t we get

0  v sin U t  _12 gt2 or g U(3)
t  ______ 2v2 cos
U sin U
R  ___________
g .
This is a maximum when cosU sinU
Solving problems is maximum, which is when
In a typical problem you will be given the magnitude and direction of the initial U  45°.
velocity and asked to find either the maximum height or range. To calculate h
you can use equation (2) but to calculate R you need to find the time of flight so
must use (3) first (you could also substitute for t into equation (1) to give a fourth
equation but maybe we have enough equations already).
You do not have to remember a lot of equations to solve a projectile problem. If
you understand how to apply the suvat equations to the two components of the
projectile motion, you only have to remember the suvat equations (and they are in
the databook).
29

M02_IBPH_SB_HIGGLB_4426_U02.indd 29 29/6/10 11:50:30

2 Mechanics

Worked example
1 A ball is thrown at an angle of 30° to the horizontal at a speed of 20 m s1.
To view a simulation of projectile Calculate its range and the maximum height reached.
motion, visit
www.heinemann.co.uk/hotlinks, 2 A ball is thrown horizontally from a cliff top with a horizontal speed of
enter the express code 4426P and
10 m s1. If the cliff is 20 m high what is the range of the ball?
click on Weblink 2.2.

Solution
1 First, as always, draw a diagram, including labels defining all the quantities
known and unknown.
20 m s
1

h
30°
R
Now we need to find the time of flight. If we apply s  ut  _12 at 2 to the whole
flight we get
2v sin U (2  20  sin 30°)
t  ______
g  _______________  2 s
10
We can now apply s  vt to the whole flight to find the range:
R  v cos Ut  20  cos 30°  2  34.6 m
Finally to find the height, we use s  ut  _12at2 to the vertical motion, but
remember, this is only half the complete flight so the time is 1 s.
h  v sin Ut _12gt2  20  sin 30°  1  _12  10  12  10  5  5 m

2 This is an easy one since there aren’t any angles

10 m s
1
to deal with. The initial vertical component
of the velocity is zero and the horizontal
component is 10 m s1. To calculate the
time of flight we apply s  ut  _12at2 to the 20 m
vertical component. Knowing that the final
displacement is 20 m this gives
________

√
(2  20)
20 m  0  _12gt2 so t  ________  2 s
10 R
We can now use this value to find the range by
applying the formula s  vt to the horizontal
component: R  10  2  20 m

Exercises

13 Calculate the range of a projectile thrown at an angle of 60° to the horizontal with velocity 30 m s1.
If you have ever played golf you will
know it is not true that the maximum 14 You throw a ball at a speed of 20 m s1.
range is achieved with an angle of 45°, (a) At what angle must you throw it so that it will just get over a wall that is 5 m high?
it’s actually much less. This is because (b) How far away from the wall must you be standing?
the ball is held up by the air like an 15 A gun is aimed so that it points directly at the centre of a target 200 m away. If the bullet travels
aeroplane is. In this photo Alan Shepard at 200 m s1 how far below the centre of the target will the bullet hit?
is playing golf on the moon. Here the
16 If you can throw a ball at 20 m s1 what is the maximum distance you can throw it?
maximum range will be at 45°.

30

M02_IBPH_SB_HIGGLB_4426_U02.indd 30 29/6/10 11:50:30

Projectile motion with air resistance
In all the examples above we have ignored the fact that the air will resist the
motion of the ball. The actual path of a ball including air resistance is likely to be
as shown in Figure 2.24.
Figure 2.24

Without air
resistance

With air
resistance

Notice both the height and range are less. It is also no longer a parabola – the way
down is steeper than the way up.