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I’m Going to Solve EVERY Projectile Motion Problem
When an object moves under the influence of the gravitational force (and no air resistance), we call that projectile motion. It’s one of the common topics covered in introductory physics.
Well, what if I just solve ALL the projectile motion problems? Yes, every single one. That’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to find the solution to every possible projectile motion question that could be asked. It’s going to be fun.
Projectile Motion Primer
So, there’s a ball (or really any object) that’s moving near the surface of the Earth. Since the force is only in the downward direction (let’s call that the negative y direction), then there is no force in the horizontal direction (that’s the x-direction). With zero force in the x-direction, the x-acceleration is also zero. That means we get the following kinematic equation for motion in the x-direction.
Since I’m trying to be as general as possible, I’m using x_1 and x_2 for the starting and ending positions. Also, I’m not assuming that the object starts at time t = 0, so that means I have to use Δt for the time interval.
What about the horizontal velocity? Let’s say that the ball is launched with some initial velocity v0 and an angle of θ above the horizontal. This means that the horizontal velocity…
