A basketball leaves a player's hands, climbs, and drops through the hoop. The arc it draws in the air has one specific shape, and every projectile draws the same one.
The shape comes from the two independent motions running at once.
Sideways, the ball's velocity never changes: equal sideways steps in equal times.
Vertically, its velocity changes steadily: 9.8 m/s of downward change every second, all flight long.
Stack the two motions together, step by step, and they trace one curve.
A projectile's path through the air is called its trajectory.
What shape is a projectile's path through the air?
Every projectile draws one. The basketball's arc is a parabola, and so is the curve of a coin flicked off a table, and the stream from a drinking fountain.
A javelin's flight traces a curved path. Which combination of motions produces the curve?
A softball is hit deep into the outfield, air resistance ignored. What shape is its path?
Once it leaves the bat, the softball is a projectile.
Sideways, its velocity stays constant; vertically, its velocity changes steadily.
Constant horizontal velocity combining with steadily changing vertical velocity produces a parabola.
A parabola.
A projectile's path through the air has its own name, whatever shape the path takes. Type the name.
Which statement about a projectile's trajectory is true?
A dirt bike leaves the top of a jump, air resistance ignored. Which pair of motions combines to trace its path?
A jet climbs in a straight slanted line after takeoff. Why is its path not a parabola?