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Vertical Projection

Vertical Motion is motion under gravity. The only force acting on the projectile is gravity. If the projectile is thrown upwards it has an initial non-zero speed and an acceleration of -g. At it's maximum height the speed is zero. As the projectile descends it accelerates due to the force of gravity.
The constant acceleration formulae apply to vertical motion.

y = u t + ½ g t2.where y is the vertical displacement, u is the vertical velocity and t is the time.

acceleration = -g

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Specification: AQA Physics (7407), AS-level, 3.4.1.4 Projectile motion and 3.4.1.3 Motion along a straight line. Topic: Motion.

Key terms in this lesson

Thinking distance
The distance a vehicle travels during the driver's reaction time, before the brakes are applied.
Braking distance
The distance a vehicle travels from the moment the brakes are applied until it comes to rest.

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