Compound motion
A ball kicked up and forwards, a parcel falling from an aircraft in flight, a boat crossing a river while the current pushes it along: in all three cases there are two motions happening at once. Galileo was the first to realise something that seems simple but cleared up centuries of confusion: those two motions can be studied separately, as if the other did not exist, and then combined using the vector addition you already know.
The principle of independence of motions
A stone dropped from the top of the mast of a moving ship lands exactly at the foot of the mast and not several metres behind it, as the ancient scholars believed: how is it possible that the ship's horizontal motion does not alter its vertical fall at all?
A boat crosses a river $40\ \text{m}$ wide at its own velocity of $2\ \text{m/s}$, directed perpendicular to the current. Look at the crossing diagram: a) State…
A boat crosses a river $40\ \text{m}$ wide at its own velocity of $2\ \text{m/s}$, directed perpendicular to the current. Look at the crossing diagram:
- a) State Galileo's principle of independence of motion.
- b) Apply it to calculate the time the boat takes to cross the river, reasoning why the current does not alter this time.
A drone flies north at $4\ \text{m/s}$ while the wind pushes it east at $3\ \text{m/s}$. a) Calculate the magnitude of the drone's resultant velocity relative to the…
A drone flies north at $4\ \text{m/s}$ while the wind pushes it east at $3\ \text{m/s}$.
- a) Calculate the magnitude of the drone's resultant velocity relative to the ground.
- b) Taking into account the independence of motion, calculate how long it takes to travel $100\ \text{m}$ northwards.
A train crosses a bridge $19,6\ \text{m}$ high when an object becomes detached from a carriage. Take $g = 9,8\ \text{m/s}^2$. a) Calculate the time it takes for the…
A train crosses a bridge $19,6\ \text{m}$ high when an object becomes detached from a carriage. Take $g = 9,8\ \text{m/s}^2$.
- a) Calculate the time it takes for the object to reach the ground.
- b) Reason whether this time depends on the horizontal speed of the train.
Horizontal projectile motion
If you throw a coin horizontally from the edge of a table at the same time as you drop another one straight down, you will hear a single thud on the floor: why do two objects with such different horizontal velocities take exactly the same time to hit the ground?
An aid aeroplane flies horizontally at $100\ \text{m/s}$ and at an altitude of $500\ \text{m}$ when it drops a package. Take $g \approx 10\ \text{m/s}^2$. Look at the…
An aid aeroplane flies horizontally at $100\ \text{m/s}$ and at an altitude of $500\ \text{m}$ when it drops a package. Take $g \approx 10\ \text{m/s}^2$. Look at the diagram:
- a) Calculate the time it takes for the package to fall.
- b) Calculate the horizontal distance the package travels before touching the ground.
A helicopter flies horizontally at $30\ \text{m/s}$ and at an altitude of $20\ \text{m}$ when it drops a package. Take $g \approx 10\ \text{m/s}^2$. a) Calculate the…
A helicopter flies horizontally at $30\ \text{m/s}$ and at an altitude of $20\ \text{m}$ when it drops a package. Take $g \approx 10\ \text{m/s}^2$.
- a) Calculate the fall time of the package.
- b) Calculate the horizontal range of the package.
- c) Calculate the velocity components on hitting the ground and its magnitude.
An aeroplane flies horizontally at $80\ \text{m/s}$ and at an altitude of $720\ \text{m}$ and must drop a package so that it lands on a specific point on the ground.…
An aeroplane flies horizontally at $80\ \text{m/s}$ and at an altitude of $720\ \text{m}$ and must drop a package so that it lands on a specific point on the ground. Take $g \approx 10\ \text{m/s}^2$.
- a) Calculate the fall time of the package.
- b) Calculate the horizontal distance travelled by the package during the fall.
- c) Reason at what horizontal distance before the target the package should be dropped.
Parabolic (oblique) projectile motion
The continuous jet of water from a tilted garden hose draws a perfect, symmetrical arc in the air, whose height and range change when you alter the angle: which combination of elementary motions gives rise to that curved path?
A ball is kicked with an initial velocity $v_0 = 50\ \text{m/s}$ at an angle of $37^\circ$ to the horizontal. Use $\sen 37^\circ \approx 0,6$ and…
A ball is kicked with an initial velocity $v_0 = 50\ \text{m/s}$ at an angle of $37^\circ$ to the horizontal. Use $\sen 37^\circ \approx 0,6$ and $\cos 37^\circ \approx 0,8$. The figure shows the resolution of the initial velocity.
- a) Calculate the horizontal component of the initial velocity.
- b) Calculate the vertical component of the initial velocity.
A golf ball leaves the tee at $v_0 = 50\ \text{m/s}$ at an angle of $37^\circ$ to the horizontal. Use $\sen 37^\circ \approx 0,6$, $\cos 37^\circ \approx 0,8$ and…
A golf ball leaves the tee at $v_0 = 50\ \text{m/s}$ at an angle of $37^\circ$ to the horizontal. Use $\sen 37^\circ \approx 0,6$, $\cos 37^\circ \approx 0,8$ and $g \approx 10\ \text{m/s}^2$. The trajectory of the shot is shown in the figure.
- a) Calculate the components of the initial velocity.
- b) Calculate the flight time.
- c) Calculate the range over level ground.
- d) Calculate the maximum height.
In a historical reenactment, a cannon fires projectiles at $v_0 = 40\ \text{m/s}$. Take $g \approx 10\ \text{m/s}^2$, $\sen 37^\circ \approx 0,6$,…
In a historical reenactment, a cannon fires projectiles at $v_0 = 40\ \text{m/s}$. Take $g \approx 10\ \text{m/s}^2$, $\sen 37^\circ \approx 0,6$, $\cos 37^\circ \approx 0,8$ and recall that $\sen(2\theta) = 2 \cdot \sen\theta \cdot \cos\theta$.
- a) Calculate the range for a firing angle of $37^\circ$.
- b) Calculate the range for the complementary angle, $53^\circ$, and compare the two results.
- c) Calculate the maximum height and the flight time in each of the two cases.
- d) Explain what property pairs of complementary angles have in projectile motion, and what is gained and lost by choosing the higher angle.
Composition of rectilinear motions: boats and currents
With $F_1=4$ at $90^\circ$ (the boat, perpendicular to the bank) and $F_2=1{,}5$ at $0^\circ$ (the current, parallel to the bank), the resultant $R$ is the real velocity of the boat relative to the ground: it moves diagonally, combining the crossing with the drift.
A boat with its own speed of $4\ \text{m/s}$ crosses a river $80\ \text{m}$ wide, pointing its bow perpendicular to the current, which flows at $1,5\ \text{m/s}$. Look…
A boat with its own speed of $4\ \text{m/s}$ crosses a river $80\ \text{m}$ wide, pointing its bow perpendicular to the current, which flows at $1,5\ \text{m/s}$. Look at the crossing diagram:
- a) Calculate the crossing time.
- b) Calculate the drift: the distance the current has carried it downstream on reaching the opposite bank.
- c) Calculate the magnitude of the total displacement between the starting point and the arrival point.
A boat skipper wants to cross a river $120\ \text{m}$ wide, arriving directly opposite the starting point. Their boat reaches $5\ \text{m/s}$ in still water and the…
A boat skipper wants to cross a river $120\ \text{m}$ wide, arriving directly opposite the starting point. Their boat reaches $5\ \text{m/s}$ in still water and the current flows downstream at $3\ \text{m/s}$. The velocity diagram is shown in the figure.
- a) Calculate the upstream angle at which the bow must be directed, knowing that it satisfies $\sen\theta = \frac{3}{5}$.
- b) Calculate the magnitude of the boat's resultant velocity relative to the banks.
- c) Calculate the time it takes to cross.
A boat capable of travelling at $5\ \text{m/s}$ in still water must cross a river $100\ \text{m}$ wide with a current of $3\ \text{m/s}$. a) If it points its bow…
A boat capable of travelling at $5\ \text{m/s}$ in still water must cross a river $100\ \text{m}$ wide with a current of $3\ \text{m/s}$.
- a) If it points its bow perpendicular to the bank, calculate the crossing time, the drift and the magnitude of the total displacement.
- b) If it wants to arrive directly opposite, calculate the upstream angle it must take (satisfying $\sen\theta = \frac{3}{5}$), the resultant velocity and the crossing time.
- c) Compare both strategies and reason which minimises the crossing time and which minimises the length of the path relative to the bank, supporting your answer with the results obtained.