Department of Education

Region VII, Central Visayas

DIVISION OF CEBU PROVINCE
District of Minglanilla I
Tungkop National High School
Subject SCIENCE Grade 9 Q4 WEEK 2 MODULE NO. 2

Relationship between the Angle of Release and the Height and

Range of the Projectile

From the previous module, projectile motion is a motion of an object that is

thrown or projected into the air at an angle. It is a combination of horizontal
and vertical motion where these two components where completely
independent with each other. Projectiles or the object being thrown or
projected can be launched horizontally (figure 1) or vertically (figure 2).

In launching a projectile
horizontally (see figure 3), the initial
velocity (vi) is equal to its horizontal
component velocity (v x) and this is
constant all throughout the path just
before it hits the ground. This is
represented by the identical horizontal
vector arrows as shown in figure 3.
There is no vertical component velocity
(vy) in this type of launched, thus its
vertical motion is identical to that of a
dropped object. As shown in figure 3,
the downward vector arrows of
increasing lengths mean that the
downward velocity increases uniformly
due to gravity.
 In figure 3, the dashed curved line represents the path of the projectile.
The velocity vector (v) of the projectile is represented by a solid arrow
and each point is in the direction of motion that is tangent to the path. The
velocity components (vx and vy) are represented in dashed arrows. The vertical
velocity component (vy) is like a falling object as shown in the left side of figure
3 for comparison.
The displacement and velocity vector for horizontally launched
projectiles has both magnitude and direction that you can separate into. The
following are the derived equations:

𝑥
Horizontal components Eq. 1 =𝑥= 𝑡 Eq. 2 = =𝑡
𝑑𝐻 𝑣𝑥 𝑣𝐻 𝑣𝑥
1
Vertical components Eq. 3 𝑑𝑉 = ℎ = 2 Eq. 4 = = 𝑎𝑔𝑡
2
𝑎 𝑔𝑡 𝑣𝑉 𝑣𝑦
Table 1. Kinematic Equations for Projectile Motion
Horizontal Motion Vertical Motion

𝑎𝑥 = 0 𝑣𝑥 = constant 𝑎𝑦 = −𝑎𝑔 = constant

𝑣𝑓𝑥 = 𝑣𝑖𝑥 𝑣𝑓𝑦 = 𝑣𝑖𝑦

− 𝑎𝑔 𝑡
𝑥𝑓 = 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑦𝑓 = 𝑦𝑖 + 𝑣𝑖𝑦𝑡 - 1 𝑎𝑔𝑡2
𝑣𝑖𝑥𝑡 2

𝑣𝑓𝑦2 = 𝑣𝑖𝑦2 − 2𝑎𝑔(𝑦𝑓 −

𝑦𝑖)

Where,
𝑣𝑓𝑥 = is the final velocity along x-axis, 𝑣𝑓𝑦 = is the final velocity along y-
axis,
𝑣𝑖𝑥 = is the initial velocity along x-axis, 𝑣𝑖𝑦 = is the initial velocity along y-
axis.
𝑥𝑓 = is the final range of the projectile 𝑦𝑓 = is the final height of the projectile
𝑥𝑖 = is the initial range of the projectile 𝑦𝑖 = is the initial height of the
projectile
𝑎𝑔 = is the acceleration due to gravity t = is
the time taken.

Let us solve the problem involving horizontal launched projectile.

Sample Problem 1: The Falling Care Package

The airplane is moving horizontally with a constant velocity of +115 m/s at an

altitude of 1050m. Determine the time required for the care package to hit the
ground. What are the magnitude and direction of the final vertical velocity of
the package?

When a projectile is launched vertically or at an angle, its velocity has

two components:

1. The horizontal velocity with constant magnitude and the same direction as
the launch. Hence, its acceleration is zero.
2. Until it reaches its maximum height where the magnitude is zero
(momentarily stop at this point), there is an upward positive decreasing
vertical velocity. After reaching at the maximum trajectory, it will descend
at an increasing negative vertical velocity because gravity makes it
accelerates downward at a rate of 9.8 m/s2.
 In summary, the vertically launched projectile moves forward
horizontally with uniform velocity while its vertical velocity is uniformly
accelerated creating a parabolic trajectory. The angle of launched and its initial
velocity are the only factors that can affect the motion of projectile. Refer to
figure 5 for its illustration.

Figure 5. Path of a projectile fired with initial velocity vi at angle i to the horizontal.
The trajectory is shown in black dash, the velocity vectors are in solid arrows, and
velocity components are dashed.

On the other hand, when the initial velocity is constant, the maximum height
reached (y max) is directly proportional to its launched angle of a projectile. This means that
the higher the angle of release, the higher is the height reached of a projectile. However,
varying initial velocity can affect the proportionality of the maximum height reached and
the launched angle.
The illustration below (figure 6) explains the relationship between the
angle of release and the height and horizontal range of the projectile at equal
initial velocity.

60º

30º

Figure 6. Projectile Height vs. Range at different angles with equal initial velocity.
 Assessment

MULTIPLE CHOICE (10-items)

Directions: Read each item carefully. Choose the letter that corresponds to the
correct answer.

1. A projectile is launched from the ground at an angle of 30º. At what point

in its trajectory does this projectile have the least speed?
A. just after it is launched
B. speed is always constant
C. just before it hits the ground
D. at the highest point in its flight
E. halfway between the ground and the highest point
2. The spring-loaded gun can launch projectiles at different angles with the
same launch speed. At what angle should the projectile be launched to
travel the greatest distance before landing?
A. 15° B. 30° C. 45° D. 60°
3. What force keeps on acting on the projectile after it was thrown?
A. Air Resistance C. Launch Force
B. Friction D. Pull of gravity
4. What is the horizontal acceleration of a projectile?
A. -9.8 m/s2 B. 9.8 m/s2 C. zero D. cannot be determined
5. At the same speed, what is the angle of launch that gives equal amount of
range when a projectile is launch at an angle of 15º?
A. 30° B. 45° C. 60° D. 75°
6. The initial velocity of Manuel playing “luksong tinik” has horizontal and
vertical components that are equal in magnitude. What angle does his
velocity make with the horizontal?
A. 30° B. 45° C. 60° D. 90°
7. A goalie made three soccer punts at 70º, 50º, and 30º with same speed–
reaching at varying distance. Which statement is correct?
A. All punts have the same hang time.
B. The punt at 70º has the longest hang time.
C. The punt at 50º has the longest hang time.
D. The punt at 30º has the longest hang time.
8. A volleyball is served at a speed of 8.0 m/s at an angle of 35º above
horizontal. What is the speed of the ball when received by the opponent
at the same height?
A. 4.0 m/s B. 8.0 m/s C. 9.8 m/s D. 16.0 m/s

16
9. A Batang Pinoy athlete from your school throws a javelin,
always at the same speed, at four different angles (30º, 40º,
60º and 80º) above the horizontal. Which two throws cause
the javelin to land the same distance away?
A. 30º and 80º C. 30º and 60º
B. 40º and 80º D. 40º and 60º
10. What do you call the trajectory of a projectile?
A. Circle B. Ellipse C. Hyperbola D. Parabola