AP Physics

Name: Projectiles / Two Dimensional Kinematics

Problem Set Projectile Motion

A. Projectiles Fired Horizontally
1. (I) A tiger leaps horizontally from a 12 meter high rock with a speed of 4.5 m/s. How far from the base of the cliff will
she land?
2. (I) A bullet is fired from a rifle that is held 1.6 m above the ground in a horizontal position. The initial velocity of the
bullet is 1100 m/s.
a. How long does it take the bullet to strike the ground?
b. What horizontal distance has the bullet traveled?
3. (II) A steel ball rolls with constant velocity across a level tabletop. The tabletop is 0.950 m in height. It rolls and hits
the ground 0.352 m from the edge of the table. How fast was the ball rolling?
4. (II) A tennis ball is struck such that it leaves the racket horizontally with a velocity of 28.0 m/s. The ball hits the court
at a horizontal distance of 19.6 m from the racket. What was the height of the tennis ball when it was hit?
5. (II) A marble, rolling with a speed of 2.0 m/s, rolls off the edge of a level table and hits the floor 1.28 s later.
a. How high was the table?
b. How far from the edge of the table does the marble land?
6. (III) A projectile is fired with a horizontal velocity of 30 m/s from the top of a hill 80.0 m high.
a. How far from the foot of the hill will the projectile land?
b. What is the magnitude of the final velocity of the projectile upon impact?

For questions 7-9

A projectile is launched horizontally from the top of a tower of height Y and a velocity of v. After t seconds the
projectile lands a distance x from the base of the tower.

7. (II) If the projectile is launched from the same tower at a velocity of 2v the time the projectile remains in the air is
closest to ____.
a. 2t
b. t
c. t/2
d. t/4
8. (II) If the projectile is launched from the same tower at a velocity of 2v the distance the projectile lands from the base
of the tower closest to ____.
a. x/2
b. x
c. 2x
d. 4x
9. (II) If the projectile was launched with a velocity v from a tower of height of Y/2, the time the projectile
remains in the air is closest to ____.
a. t/2
b. t/4
c. t/2
d. t/4

1) 7.02 m 2) a. 0.571 s b. 628 m 3) 0.800 m/s

4) 2.40 m 5) a. 8.03 m b. 2.56 m 6) a. 121 m b. 49.7 m/s
7) b 8) c 9) c
B. Projectiles Fired at an Angle:

1. (I) A body is projected from the ground at an angle of 30 with the horizontal at an initial speed of 39.0 m/s.
a. What is the original horizontal component of the velocity?
b. What is the original vertical component of the velocity?
c. How long will it take for the object to return to the ground?
d. What maximum height will the object reach?
e. What is the range of the projectile?
2. (II) A player kicks a football from ground level with an initial velocity of 27.0 m/s, 30 above the horizontal. Find the
balls hang time, range, and maximum height.
3. (III) A pitched ball is hit by a batter at a 45 angle and just clears the outfield fence, 98 m away. Assume that the fence
is at the same height as the pitch. Find the velocity of the ball when it left the bat.
4. (III) A ship maneuvers to within 2500 m of an islands 1800 m peak and fires a projectile at an enemy ship 610 m of the
other side of the peak as shown below. If the ship fires a projectile with an initial velocity of 250 m/s at an angle of 75,
a. How close to the enemy ship does the projectile land?
b. How close (vertically) does the projectile come to the peak?

For questions 5-7.

A projectile is launched from ground level at an angle of with a velocity of v.

5. (II) What angle will cause the projectile to remain in the air the longest?
a. 30
b. 45
c. 60
d. 90
6. (II) What angle will cause the projectile to have the greatest range?
a. 30
b. 45
c. 60
d. 90
7. (II) What angle will cause the projectile to reach the greatest height?
a. 30
b. 45
c. 60
d. 90

1) a. 33.8 m/s b. 19.5 m/s c. 3.98 s d. 19.4 m e. 135m 2) 2.76 s; 64.6 m; 9.30 m
3) 31.0 m/s 4) a. 86 m b. 202 m
5) d 6) b
7) d