Projectile Playground
Learning goal
Feel how projectile motion responds to its two inputs: range peaks at 45°, complementary angles land together, and no shot ever escapes the parabola of safety.
Things to try
- Fire 30° and 60° at the same speed — same range, different flight time. Which arrives first, and why?
- Sweep the angle at fixed speed and watch the ranges trace out a maximum at 45°.
- Turn on the parabola of safety and try to land a shot beyond it. (You can't — the envelope is \(y = v_0^2/2g - gx^2/2v_0^2\).)
- Double the speed and confirm the range quadruples (\(R \propto v_0^2\)).