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Title: Projectile Motion and Its Applications

The document discusses projectile motion and its applications. It explains that while the optimum projection angle for maximum horizontal range is 45 degrees according to theory, actual performers use lower angles like 37 degrees for shot put. This is because the projection speed decreases with increasing angle, reducing the optimum angle. Projectile motion equations describe the location of a projectile over time under the influence of gravity alone. A parabola is the trajectory of a projectile launched at an angle, created by the interaction of gravity and the initial launch conditions.

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130 views3 pages

Title: Projectile Motion and Its Applications

The document discusses projectile motion and its applications. It explains that while the optimum projection angle for maximum horizontal range is 45 degrees according to theory, actual performers use lower angles like 37 degrees for shot put. This is because the projection speed decreases with increasing angle, reducing the optimum angle. Projectile motion equations describe the location of a projectile over time under the influence of gravity alone. A parabola is the trajectory of a projectile launched at an angle, created by the interaction of gravity and the initial launch conditions.

Uploaded by

Er Sally
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Title: Projectile Motion and Its Applications

Introduction

One of the best known 'results' of the science of mechanics is that the optimum projection
angle for achieving maximum horizontal range is 45°. However, it is also well known that actual
performers in projectile-related sports seldom use an angle of 45°. For example, typical
projection angles of world-class shot-putters are around 37°. Some researchers have noted that in
shot-putting the landing is about 2 m lower than the launch. Even so, this produces only a small
reduction in the calculated optimum projection angle (to about 42°)

The reason for the discrepancy between theory and practice is that the projection speed
and launch height attained by the athlete are not independent of the projection angle, as is
assumed in the conventional calculation of the optimum projection angle. Experiments have
shown that the projection speed an athlete can generate decreases with increasing projection
angle, and that this substantially reduces the optimum projection angle.

A projectile is an object upon which the only force acting is gravity. There are a variety
of examples of projectiles. An object dropped from rest is a projectile (provided that the
influence of air resistance is negligible). An object that is thrown vertically upward is also a
projectile (provided that the influence of air resistance is negligible). And an object which is
thrown upward at an angle to the horizontal is also a projectile (provided that the influence of air
resistance is negligible). A projectile is any object that once projected or dropped continues in
motion by its own inertia and is influenced only by the downward force of gravity.

A projectile is a physical object (which could be a person) moving in space. Projectile


motion is the movement of the projectile under some conditions like initial velocity and gravity.
We use projectile motion equations to describe the location coordinates of the projectile; usually
as a function of time. A really cool way to remember the equations of projectile motion starts
with:

The acceleration in the y-direction is due to gravity, g. The force due to gravity points
down and the positive y-direction points up, so we write a negative sign in front of g. The value
of the constant, g, is very close to 9.8 m/sec2. The acceleration in the x-direction is 0. Now we
integrate:

The integral of acceleration, a, is velocity, v. And the indefinite integral has a constant added to
it: vyo is the initial velocity in the y-direction. vxo is the initial velocity in the x-direction.
Integrate one more time:

These are the parametric equations describing projectile motion. The parameter is the
variable, t(time). Instead of y being a function of x, we have both x and y as functions of t. Note
the start position is (xo, yo). We often call yo, the ''initial height.''

Gravity, or gravitation, is a natural phenomenon by which all things


with massor energy—including planets, stars, galaxies, and even light —are brought toward
[1]

(or gravitate toward) one another. On Earth, gravity gives weight to physical objects, and the
Moon's gravity causes the ocean tides. In 1687, English mathematician Sir Isaac
Newton published Principia, which hypothesizes the inverse-square law of universal gravitation.
In his own words, "I deduced that the forces which keep the planets in their orbs must [be]
reciprocally as the squares of their distances from the centers about which they revolve: and
thereby compared the force requisite to keep the Moon in her Orb with the force of gravity at the
surface of the Earth; and found them answer pretty nearly."[8] The equation is the following:

Where F is the force, m1 and m2 are the masses of the objects interacting, r is the distance
between the centers of the masses and G is the gravitational constant.
In mathematics, a parabola is a plane curve which is mirror-symmetrical and is
approximately U-shaped. It fits any of several superficially different mathematical descriptions,
which can all be proved to define exactly the same curves.

Part of a parabola (blue), with various features (other colours). The complete parabola has no
endpoints. In this orientation, it extends infinitely to the left, right, and upward.

One description of a parabola involves a point (the focus) and a line (the directrix). The focus
does not lie on the directrix. The parabola is the locus of points in that plane that
are equidistant from both the directrix and the focus. Another description of a parabola is as
a conic section, created from the intersection of a right circular conical surface and a plane which
is parallel to another plane that is tangential to the conical surface. A third description
is algebraic. A parabola is a graph of a quadratic function, y = x2, for example.

reference:

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/vectors/Lesson-2/What-is-a-Projectile

https://study.com/academy/lesson/using-parametric-equations-to-describe-projectile-motion.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parabola

http://people.brunel.ac.uk/~spstnpl/BiomechanicsAthletics/ShotPut.htm

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