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Explanation of Overview of Gravity Equations for Objects Projected Downward by Ron Kurtus - Succeed in Understanding Physics. Also refer to physical science, acceleration, displacement, time, calculation, square-root, School for Champions. Copyright © Restrictions
Overview of Gravity Equations for Objects Projected Downward
by Ron Kurtus (revised 27 December 2010)
When you throw or project an object downward, the object typically starts at zero velocity and is accelerated until it is released at some initial velocity.
The object then accelerates due to the force of gravity, with the initial velocity adding to the result of the acceleration. There are simple derived equations that allow you to calculate the velocity and displacement traveled, as well as the time taken to achieve a given velocity or displacement.
(See Overview of Gravity Equation Derivations for more information on derivations.)
Note: You normally do not need to memorize these equations, but you should know where to find them in order to solve equations.
This lesson is an overview of the equations and has references to the other lessons, which provide the details.
Questions you may have include:
- What are the velocity equations?
- What are the displacement equations?
- What are the time equations?
This lesson will answer those questions.
Useful tool: Metric-English Conversion
Velocity equations
The equations for the velocity of an object projected downward at an initial velocity of vi are:
v = gt + vi
v = √(2yg + vi2)
(See Gravity Velocity Equations for Objects Projected Downward for details on using these equations, as well as some examples.)
Displacement equations
The equations for the displacement traveled of an object projected downward at an initial velocity of vi are:
y = gt2/2 + vit
y = (v2 − vi2)/2g
(See Gravity Displacement Equations for Objects Projected Downward for details on using these equations, as well as some examples.)
Time equations
The equations for the elapsed time of an object projected downward at an initial velocity of vi are:
t = (v − vi)/g
t = [−vi + √(vi2+ 2gy)]/g
(See Gravity Time Equations for Objects Projected Downward for details on using these equations, as well as some examples.)
Summary
There are equations for objects projected downward that allow you to calculate the velocity and displacement traveled, as well as the time taken to achieve a given velocity or displacement.
Help other people learn
Resources and references
The following resources provide information on this subject:
Websites
Acceleration due to Gravity Calculations - from Western Washington University
Books
Top-rated
books on Simple Gravity Science
Top-rated
books on Advanced Gravity Physics
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Overview of Gravity Equations for Objects Projected Downward