Question

Which factors are most important in projectile motion?

Answer 1

When an object is launched at an angle with the horizontal, the motion experienced by the object is known as projectile motion.

Here, $v$ is the initial speed and $\theta$ is the angle made with the horizontal.

The most important factors affecting projectile motion are:

1. The angle of the launch: The angle at which the object is thrown determines how high (vertically) or how far (horizontally) the object will reach.
2. Initial speed: Greater the initial speed of launch, the higher and farther will the object reach.
3. Height of launch: If the object is launched from a height instead of the ground, then naturally, the maximum height achieved and the maximum range covered will be greater.
4. Other factors that can affect the projectile motion are air resistance (slightly decreases the speed of the motion) and gravity (varies slightly with altitude).
5. The maximum height reached in a projectile motion can be expressed by the relation, $H=\frac{v^2{\sin }^2\theta }{2g}$. Here, $g$ is the acceleration due to gravity.
6. The horizontal range of a projectile motion can be expressed by the relation, $R=\frac{v^2\sin 2\theta }{g}$.

Hence, the important factors affecting projectile motion are the angle of launch, initial speed and the height of the launch.