AP Physics 1
Unit 5
1.
U5 WS1 - Projectile Motion
page 1
3/3/2016
A suitcase accidentally falls out of an airplane that is flying at a constant velocity and constant altitude. Ignore air resistance.
Draw a picture of the path of the plane and the path of the suitcase from the moment the suitcase leaves the plane to when it
hits the ground. Be sure to draw where the plane is when the suitcase hits the ground.
2. A marble rolls off of a desk with a speed of 3 m/s. The top of the desk is 1.5 m above the floor.
a. How long does it take for marble to hit the ground?
b. How far away from the table is the marble when it hits the ground?
3. A rock is thrown upwards at a 40° angle. What is the vertical velocity of the rock when it has reached the highest point in its path?
What is the acceleration of the rock at that point?
4. A cannon mounted on a pirate ship fires a cannonball at 125 m/s horizontally, at a height of 17.5 m above the ocean surface.
Ignore air resistance.
a. How much time elapses until it splashes into the water?
b. How far from the ship does it land?
5. A box is dropped from a spacecraft moving horizontally at 27.0 m/s at a distance of 155 m above the surface of a moon. The rate
of freefall acceleration on this airless moon is 2.79 m/s2.
a. How long does it take for the box to reach the moon's surface?
b. What is its horizontal displacement during this time?
c. What is its vertical velocity when it strikes the surface?
d. At what speed does the box strike the moon?
6. A projectile is fired with an initial speed of 65.2 m/s at an angle of 34.5° above the horizontal on a long flat firing range.
Determine
a. the maximum height reached by the projectile.
b. the total time in the air.
c. the range (total horizontal distance covered) of the projectile.
d. the velocity (both magnitude and direction) of the projectile 1.5 seconds after firing.
7. A stone is projected at a cliff of height h with an initial speed of 42.0 m/s directed 60˚ above
A
v
0
the horizontal. The stone strikes point A 5.50 s after the launch.
h
a. What is the height of the cliff?

b. What is the speed of the stone just before impact at point A?
c. What is the maximum height that the stone reaches above the launch point?
8. A plane has a speed of 150 m/s and is in a dive at and angle of 30˚ below the horizontal when a
signal buoy is released. The horizontal distance between the point on the ground below the release
point A, and the point B where the buoy lands, is 700 m.
a. How high was the plane when the buoy was released?
b. How long was the buoy in the air?
9. A movie stunt man is to run across a rooftop and then horizontally off it, to land on the roof of
the next building. The second building's roof is 4.8 m below and 6.2 m distant from the edge of
the first building. Before he attempts to make the jump, he wisely does some calculations.
a. If his horizontal velocity is 4.5 m/s, will he safely make the jump?
b. What is the minimum velocity he must have in order to safely make the jump?
c. If his horizontal velocity is only 4.0 m/s, where will the stunt man hit the side of the second
building?
d. If the second building is only 4 m wide, what is the maximum velocity the stunt man can
have without missing the second building altogether?
10. You are on a freeway overpass with a paintball gun, which is capable of firing a paintball with a speed of 280 m/s. You see a
truck underneath you moving at 30 m/s cut off another car. You decide to shoot the truck. If you are 8 m above the truck,
a. At what angle must you fire the paintball?
b. How long will the paintball be in flight before hitting the truck?
c. How far from the overpass is the truck when it’s hit?