Projectile Motion using Angry Birds

Used Tracker motion analysis today to help us understand more about how projectile motion works. The video below shows how to use the autotracker function to analyse the motion of the Angry Bird.



We used the analysis to figure out how the horizontal and vertical motion of the bird changed over time. We also calculated the approximate length of Angry Bird required to give an acceleration similar to gravity. The question sheet below was used as a guide.

Projectile Motion Using Angry Birds

Projectiles

We started off with the simplest type of projectile - those that are projected horizontally. They therefore have an initial vertical velocity of zero so are pretty much the same as our calculations on bouncing balls and the like.



Things get a little more complicated when you launch projectiles into the air at an angle because the initial vertical velocity is no longer zero. If this is the case then you must think about the horizontal velocity and the vertical velocity separately.