⇒ Projectile motion builds on the principles we have already learnt:
⇒ This shows a diver jumping into the sea, and each 0.2 seconds another image is taken
⇒ The diver is displaced sideways by a constant amount in each frame of the image because there is no horizontal force acting on him, so he can keep moving with a constant speed in that direction
⇒ However, his displacement downwards does increase with each frame because gravity acts to accelerate him - so downward velocity increases
⇒ An important principle is that the vertical and horizontal motions of the diver are independent of each other
⇒ In the following calculations we will ignore the effect of air resistance (although when things move very quickly, such as a golf ball, air resistance needs to be taken into account)
⇒ Also see our notes on: