Question

At the maximum height of a projectile launched at an angle to the horizontal, the projectile's velocity is in a?

1) Horizontal direction
2) Vertical direction
3) Diagonal direction
4) Cannot be determined

Answer 1

At the maximum height of a projectile's trajectory, its velocity is in the horizontal direction because the vertical component of velocity is zero at that point.

Step-by-step explanation:

At the maximum height of a projectile launched at an angle to the horizontal, the projectile's velocity is solely in the horizontal direction. At this point in its trajectory, the vertical component of the projectile's velocity is zero because gravity has decelerated the upward motion to a stop before it begins to accelerate the object downward. Therefore, only the horizontal component of velocity remains, and it remains constant throughout the flight of the projectile (assuming negligible air resistance). This fits with the principle of projectile motion that horizontal and vertical motions are independent of one another and that, without air resistance, the horizontal velocity remains constant while the vertical velocity changes due to gravity.

Answer 2

At the maximum height of a projectile launched at an angle to the horizontal, the projectile's velocity is in a vertical direction.

The answer is option ⇒2) Vertical direction

Step-by-step explanation:

1) Projectile motion: When a projectile, such as a ball, is launched at an angle to the horizontal, it follows a curved path known as projectile motion.

2) Velocity: Velocity is a vector quantity that describes the speed and direction of an object. It has both magnitude (speed) and direction.

3) Vertical and horizontal components: In projectile motion, the initial velocity of the projectile can be broken down into two components: vertical and horizontal. The vertical component is responsible for the vertical motion of the projectile, while the horizontal component determines the horizontal motion.

4) Vertical motion: As the projectile moves upward, the vertical component of its velocity decreases due to the opposing force of gravity. At the maximum height of the projectile's trajectory, its vertical velocity becomes zero. This means that the projectile momentarily stops moving upward.

5) Horizontal motion: Although the vertical velocity becomes zero at the maximum height, the horizontal component of the velocity remains constant throughout the entire motion. This is because there are no horizontal forces acting on the projectile in the absence of air resistance.

6) Conclusion: At the maximum height of a projectile launched at an angle to the horizontal, the vertical component of its velocity is zero, while the horizontal component remains constant. Therefore, the projectile's velocity is solely in the vertical direction at this point.

The answer is option ⇒2) Vertical direction