NAME: ______PERIOD: ______DATE: ______

Projectile Motion

INTRODUCTION

By watching a weekend football game you could learn something other than who threw the most passes or gained the most yards. Football provides some great examples of the basic concepts of physics! Physics is present in the flight of the ball, the motion of the players and the force of the tackles. In this investigation you will learn the characteristics of projectile motion which is the kind of motion followed by the ball.

TASK

You will be given various links to Internet sites that will help you to answer the questions. By the end of this WEbQuest you will have a better understanding of projectile motion by analyzing multimedia animations and completing a virtual lab activity.

PROCESS AND RESOURCES:

Part 1: Parabolic Motion of Projectiles

Click on the link below and read the first paragraph.

The animation shows a comparison of a projectile thrown horizontally to an object in free-fall.

1. In the absence of air resistance, why does the horizontal component (x-axis) of velocity for a projectile remain constant, and why does only the vertical component change? ______

______

2. Howdoes the downward component of the motion of a projectile compareto the motion of free fall?______

3. At the instant a ballisthrownhorizontally over the level ground,another ball held at the side of the first is released at the same time the first ball is thrown and drops to theground. If air resistance can be neglected, which ball - the one thrown or the one dropped from rest –hits theground first?______

______

Part 2: Parabolic Motion of Projectiles: The Plane and the Truck

Click on both links below and read the information carefully. Both simulations show a situation where a plane and a truck are moving at constant speed. The plane drops a package from its luggage compartment and the truck projects a ball upward.

4. Neglecting the effects of air resistance, explain why after being thrown, the package remains directly below the plane and the ball remains directly above the truck. ______

______

Part 3: Virtual Lab

Click on the link and print out the Lab Worksheet.

The lab is divided into three sections. Click on each link to complete the activity.

Part A: Projectile Motion

Part B: Hole-in-One

Part C: Graphical Analysis of Motion

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