Concept preview

What you will be able to do

1. 01Treat horizontal and vertical motion as independent
2. 02Analyse a horizontally-launched projectile
3. 03Solve full-angle launches for range, height and time of flight

A projectile is any object moving under gravity alone, once it has been launched — a thrown ball, a struck golf ball, water from a hose. The revelation, which we owe to Galileo, is this: the horizontal and vertical motions are completely independent. Gravity pulls only downward, so it changes the vertical motion but leaves the horizontal motion untouched. We can therefore solve two simple 1D problems side by side instead of one hard 2D problem.