Problems in projectile motion are a time-honored staple of high school and even first-year university physics. They can become confusing for some students, yet boring for the stronger students. Herein we present two alternative approaches to such questions, one we call “breaking down gravity,” which makes these questions easier to solve, and the other we call “getting rid of gravity,” which converts such questions into a more interesting and challenging form.
Topics
Education
REFERENCES
1.
R. A. Serway, Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 3rd ed. (Saunders, Philadelphia, 1990).
2.
Klein
and Mittelstaedt
, “A simple experimental demonstration of the principle of equivalence
,” Am. J. Phys.
65
, 316
–321
(April 1997
).
This content is only available via PDF.
© 2010 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2010
American Association of Physics Teachers
AAPT members receive access to The Physics Teacher and the American Journal of Physics as a member benefit. To learn more about this member benefit and becoming an AAPT member, visit the Joining AAPT page.
