The path of a projectile is a function of:
The horizontal speed of a projectile is given by U COS(θ), where θ is the angle of the projectile's path. For example, 50 SIN (0.523559) = 43.3.
After 5 seconds the projectile would have travelled 5 times 43.3 (assuming it stays in the air).
The vertical speed of a projectile is given by U SIN(θ) t - 5 t2.
The value 5 is derived from the acceleration of a projectile due to the influence of gravity. The gravitational constant is 9.8 m/s2. Substituting 10 for 9.8 introduces inaccuracy into the calculations but this is OK for demonstration purposes.
Create a spreadsheet that takes initial velocity, angle of projection and g as the basic inputs and plots the height reached by a projectile.
The distance travelled will be the point at which the projectile crosses the height at which it started. Assuming this is 0 the distance travelled will be when the height has reached 0.
Write a column of values for t (say 0-10) and calculate U SIN(θ) t - 5 t2 for each value of t. Be careful to use $ symbols to fix the cell references to the constant values.
In the next column use a function to test whether the value has reached 0, in which case the horizontal distance travelled at this point will be U COS(θ) t.
Create a chart to show the progress of the projectile.
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