TASK
You will be given various links to Internet sites that will help you to answer the questions.
By the end of this PhysicsQuest you will have a better understanding of projectile motion by analyzing multimedia animations and completing a virtual lab activity.
INTRODUCTION
By watching a weekend football game you could learn something other than who threw the most passes or gained the most yards.
Football provides some great examples of the basic concepts of physics! Physics is present in the flight of the ball, the motion of the players and the force of the tackles.
In this investigation you will learn the characteristics of projectile motion which is the kind of motion followed by the ball.
Part 2.
Both simulations show a situation where a plane and a truck are moving at constant speed. The plane drops a package from its luggage compartment and the truck projects a ball upward.
4. Neglecting the effects of air resistance, explain why
after being thrown, the package remains directly
below the plane and the ball remains directly above
the truck.
Part 1.
The animation shows a comparison of a projectile thrown horizontally to an object in free-fall.
1. In the absence of air resistance, why does the horizontal
component of velocity for a projectile remain constant,
and why does only the vertical component change?
2. How does the downward component of the motion of a
projectile compare to the motion of free fall?
3. At the instant a ball is thrown horizontally over a level range,
a ball held at the side of the first is released and drops to the
ground. If air resistance can be neglected, which ball - the
one thrown or the one dropped from rest - strikes the
ground first?
