EXTRANOTES:PROJECTILEMOTION

Thefollowingnotescomplementwhatwasstudiedinclassaboutprojectilemotion. RangeandMaximumheight Therangeisthemaximumdistancethataprojectileachieves.Thisdistancewillbemeasuredfromthe originofcoordinates.Wewillassumeherethatthefieldisflatandthepointoflunchcoincideswiththe origin. y + v0 v0y ymax vfy R v0x x t1/2

vox

Theabovediagramshowsthemeaningoftherelevantvariablesthatweneedinordertofindtherange andmaximumhighoftheprojectilelunched. Sincethemotiontakesplaceintwodimensionswefindtheinitialvelocitiesalongeachaxis.Thususing theangleandmagnitudeoftheinitialvelocitywefindthecorrespondingcomponents: v 0x= v 0 cos v0y = v 0 sin

Now weobservethefollowing.Thefinalvelocity, i.e.thevelocityrightbeforeimpact,is equalin magnitudethanthatofthelunchvelocitybutitsdirectionhaschanged.Amorecarefulobservationtellus thatthexcomponent,voxremainsconstantsotheonlychangeisinthedirectionofthecomponentofthe velocityalongtheyaxis.Thiscomponenthasinverteditsdirectionandnowpointsdown.Thuswehave v0y=vfy. 1/3

Letususethisinformationtofindthetimeofflight. Wecanpreciselyemploytheequationforthe velocityalongtheyaxis: v fy =v 0y g t

v 0y=v 0y g t f 2v0y g =t f

Thusthetimeofflightisequalto:

2v 0 sin g

=t f

Nowwearereadytofindtherange.Sincethexpositionoftheprojectiveatthetimeofflightisprecisely therange,wejustneedtoreplacethisparticulartimeintheappropriateequation: x = x 0 v x t R= v 0x t f = v 0x 2 v 0y g = 2 v 02 sin cos g v 02 sin 2 g

whichallowsustowrite: R=

Forthemaximumheightwejustusethesamemethodwithoneimportantdifference.Thisheightis reachedbytheprojectilewhenthetimeistwhichisjusthalfoftheflighttime.Therefore: 1 y = y 0 v y0 t a t 2 2 1 y max = v 0 sin t 1/ 2 g t 1 /22 2 v 0 sin 1 v0 sin 2 y max =v 0 sin g g 2 g finallyweobtain: y max = v 02 sin 2 2g

Thenexttwoproblemswillhelpyoutopracticetheconceptsjustlearned.

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PRACTICEQUIZ2

1.Aprojectileisfiredwithaninitialspeedof72.5m/satanangleof34.5 abovethehorizontalona longflatfiringrange.Determine(a)themaximumheight,(b)thetotaltimeintheair,(c)thetotal horizontaldistancecovered. Wejustneedtorecognizethat v 0= 72.5 m / s , =34.50 .Thus: (a) y max = (b) t f = (c) R= 72.5 m / s 2 sin 34.5 2 2 9.8 m / s 2 2 72.5 m / s sin 34.5
2

=86 m

9.8 m / s 2 72.5 m / s sin 69 9.8 m / s2

=8.4 s

=501 m

2.Afirehoseheldnearthegroundshootswaterataspeedof6.5m/s.Atwhatangle(s)shouldthenozzle pointinorderthatthewaterland2.0maway?Whyaretheretwodifferentangles? Nowwearegiventherangeandweneedtofindtheangle(s).Sotheequationlookssomethinglikethis: 2 v 0 sin 2 R= g 6.5 m / s 2 sin 2 2.0 m= 9.8 m / s2 0.46 =sin 2 13.70= Weneedtorememberakeypropertyofthesinefunction.Itissymmetricaboutthepeakat,therefore thefunctionsin2issymmetricabout.Forexample,aprojectilelaunchedat30willhavethesame rangeasonelaunchedat60.Thusangles13.7and76.3havethesamerange.Wecanprovethisusing trigonometricidentities: sin 1800 2 =sin 2 sin [ 2 90 0]=sin 2 sin [ 2 90013.70 ]=sin 2 13.70

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