Sports
Players choose speed and angle to send a ball over defenders or toward a target.
Key idea: angle changes height and rangeLabs / Physics / Projectile Motion
Projectile Motion
Aim, launch, and find out what controls how high and how far an object travels.
Why it matters
Where do we use this?
Thrown balls, water jets, fireworks, and spacecraft all follow curved paths. Predicting those paths helps people aim accurately and design safely.
Fire safety
Firefighters aim water so it reaches the right height and distance.
Key idea: speed and gravity shape the pathEngineering
Designers predict where moving objects or material leaving a conveyor will land.
Key idea: motion can be predictedSpaceflight
An orbit begins as sideways motion while gravity continuously pulls the craft downward.
Key idea: falling and forward motion combineOur driving questionWhat launch gives the greatest useful range?
Explore
Try it first
Drag to aim and release to launch. Change the planet and turn air resistance on or off.
Range 0.0 mPeak 0.0 mTime 0.00 s
Notice: the object keeps moving sideways while gravity changes its vertical motion.
Investigate
Three guided experiments
Make a prediction before touching the controls. Then test it and explain the evidence in your own words.
Procedure
- Keep launch speed and gravity fixed.
- Try 30°, 45°, and 60°.
- Compare the landing distances.
Record
Write down which angle travelled farthest.
Explain
What is happening?
Sideways motion continues
Without air resistance, no sideways force acts, so sideways speed stays constant.
Gravity pulls downward
Gravity changes vertical speed every second, creating the curved path.
The motions combine
Constant sideways motion plus changing vertical motion makes a parabola.
Without air resistance
Range = v² sin(2θ) / g- v
- launch speed
- θ
- launch angle
- g
- gravity
Worked example
At the same speed, 30° and 60° have the same ideal range because sin(60°) equals sin(120°).
Check your model
Can you predict the pendulum?
Extend
Take it further
Find two different angles that land at nearly the same distance. How do their flight times and peak heights differ?