Assumptions


Before we start to get equations that will describe projectile motion we make a couple of assumptions and observations to make our analysis easier.

Assumption 1

First of all, although we are in a 3D world all projectiles can be treated in 2D becuase the whole motion of the projectile is in one plane.

Assumption 2

Next we have to think about acceleration due to gravity.  Acceleration is the measure of the change of an object's velocity.  An object's velocity is how "fast" the object is moving.  The acceleration due to gravity gets smaller as we move further from the earth, but if we assume that the vertical displacement of the projectile is much smaller than the radius of the earth, we can assume that acceleration due to gravity is constant at about 9.8 m/s2.
 

Assumption 3

Another assumption that we will make is that air resistance is negligible.  This can be done for objects where the surface area to mass ratio of the projectile is small.
 

With the above assumptions in mind we can go about analyzing projectile motion.
 

Start Analyzing Projectile Motion
 
 


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