Deconstructing Vertical Motion
A single data table generated from a simulation of a projectile launched at an angle. The dataset tracks the horizontal position (d_x) and vertical position (d_y) of a projectile at regular time intervals (t).
- Focus only on the 'Time' and 'Vertical_Position' columns. Describe what happens to the projectile's height during its flight. At what time does it reach its maximum height?
- Calculate the change in vertical position for the first second of flight (from t=0 to t=1) and the last second of flight. Are they the same? What does this suggest about the projectile's vertical speed?
- [SEP] If you were to create a plot of 'Vertical_Position' vs. 'Time', what shape would you expect the graph to have? How does this shape relate to the motion of an object dropped straight down? [BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE: The motion of an object under constant acceleration, like gravity, produces a parabolic position-time graph.]
Deconstructing Horizontal Motion
A single data table generated from a simulation of a projectile launched at an angle. The dataset tracks the horizontal position (d_x) and vertical position (d_y) of a projectile at regular time intervals (t).
- Now, focus only on the 'Time' and 'Horizontal_Position' columns. Describe the relationship between how much time has passed and how far the projectile has traveled horizontally.
- Calculate the horizontal distance traveled during the first second of flight (from t=0 to t=1) and during any other one-second interval. What do you notice?
- [SEP] Calculate the ratio of 'Horizontal_Position' to 'Time' for at least three different data points. What does the consistency of this ratio tell you about the projectile's horizontal motion?
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