1. Name: ______________________
Projectile Motion Problems
Horizontal motion s=d/t
Vertical motion v = 10t, d=5t2
*Recall that the maximum vertical height is reached HALFWAY through,
and the vertical velocity =0.
Example: Melanie rolls a 10g marble down a ramp off the table with a
horizontal velocity of 1.2 m/s. The marble falls in a cup placed .51 m from
the tables edge. How high is the table?
Given
horizontal s vertical d
d t
t
a) Use your horizontal speed equation to find the time:
b) the time is the exact same for your vertical equations, so use time
to find the height.
________________m
STEPS:
1,FILL IN WHAT YOU KNOW!
2.WHICH EQUATION CAN YOU SOLVE ( you have 2/3 horizontal pieces
or 1 of the vertical ones!) s=d/t, or d=5t2
3. USUALLY you are solving for time.
4. TIME IS = in both equations, so plug time into the other to solve for
whatever the problem is asking for.
1. Jo is standing on a ladder picking apples. As he pulls each apple off, he
tosses it into a basket that sits on the ground 3 m below, and at a horizontal
distance of 2 m, How fast must he throw the apple (horizontally) in order for
them to land in the basket?
horizontal s vertical d
d t
t

2. a) Find time using your vertical
b) now plug in the time to your horizontal equation.
___________________
2. Jo stands on a bridge kicking stones into the water below. If he kicks a stone with
a horizontal velocity of 3.5 m/s, and it lands in the water at a horizontal distance
of 5.4 m from where he is standing, what is the height of the bridge.
horizontal s vertical D
d T
t
(find time with your horizontal formula, then plug it in to your vertical one!)
_____________________
3. An airplane pilot drops a bottle out of an airplane. If the plane was flying at an altitude
of 500m, and the bottle lands 400m horizontally from the initial dropping point. How
fast was the plane flying when the bottle was released?
horizontal s vertical D
d T
T
(find time w/ vertical formula, then go back and plug it into the horizontal one)
_____________________
4. Jo drops a cherry pit out of the car window 1 meter above the ground while
traveling down a road at 18 m/s. How far away will the ( from the initial
dropping point) will the cherry pit land?
horizontal S vertical D
D T
T

3. _______________________
5. A frog is hopping form lily pad to lily pad in search of a good fly for lunch. If the
lily pads are spaced 3m apart, and he jumps .4 m in the air, what horizontal speed
does he jump at?
horizontal S vertical D
D T
T
________________________
6. Calculate where a flour sack would land if dropped from a moving airplane. If the
airplane is moving at a constant horizontal speed of 60 m/s at an altitude of 300 m?
horizontal s vertical D
d T
t
__________________________
7. While skiing, Jo experiences an unexpected icy bump, and leaves the ground
horizontally at 12 m/s. How far out (horizontally) did he land if he fell a vertical
distance of 7 m in the fall.
horizontal s vertical D
d T
t

4. ______________________
8. While standing on a 10 m high quarry wall, Jo tosses out a rock into
the water below. If he threw it with a horizontal speed of 3 m/s, how
far out from the edge will it hit the water?
horizontal s vertical D
d T
t
______________________
9. Jo dives off a diving board with a horizontal speed of 8 m/s. If she
lands 5 m away, how high was the diving board?
horizontal s vertical D
d T
t
_____________________
10.The county sheriff (Jo) is trying to determine the speed of a car that
slid off a small bridge and landed onto a snow pile 4 m below the
road. The tire tracks in the snow, show that the car landed 12 m
horizontally from the bridge. How fast was the car going?
horizontal s vertical D
d T
t