Projectile Motion Practice Questions

1. Tom the cat is chasing Jerry the mouse across a table surface 1.5 m high. Jerry steps out of the way at the last second, and Tom slides off the edge of the table at a speed of 5 m/s. a. Where will Tom strike the floor? b. What are his vertical and horizontal velocity components just before he hits the floor?

2. A Lacrosse player slings the ball at an angle of 30 degrees above the horizontal with a speed of 20 m/s. How far away should a teammate position herself to catch the ball?

3. A ball is thrown straight upward and returns to the thrower's hand after 3 seconds in the air. A second ball is thrown at an angle of 30 degrees with the horizontal. At what speed must the second ball be thrown so that it reaches the same height as the one thrown vertically?

4. Two objects are initially the same height above the ground. Simultaneously, one is released from rest and the other is shot off horizontally with an initial speed of 2.5 m/s. The two objects collide after falling 20 m. How far apart were the objects initially?

5. Frustrated with HISTORY, (you never get frustrated in physics) you open the second story window and (to the horror of your teacher but to the secret delight of your classmates) violently hurl your history book out the window with a velocity of 18 m/s at an angle of 35 degrees above the horizontal. If the launch point is 6 meters above the ground, how far from the building will the book hit the parking lot?