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Q:
what is the acceleration of a projectile thrown upward at it’s highest point?
- rabia (age 17)
bahawalpur/punjab/pakistan
A:
Well, assuming that we're talking about a projectile thrown from the
surface of the earth, then while the projectile is in flight the only
acceleration it experiences is due to the force of gravity. (To be
precise, there's a little bit of other acceleration due to friction
with the air, but that vanishes at the highest point of a straight
up-down path because the velocity is zero there.) And the acceleration
due to gravity is constant on the object thoughout its flight. So the
acceleration of the projectile is equal to the acceleration due to
gravity, 9.81 meters/second/second, from just after its thrown, through
its highest point, and until just before it hits the ground.
If you search on the internet for 'projectile motion' you will
quickly find a ton of websites with little java appelets which
demonstrate projectile motion. Many of these sites allow you to change
certain variables, like the acceleration due to gravity, to see how
they affect the projectile's motion.
Hope this helps,
Tim
(published on 10/22/2007)
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