If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website.

If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked.

Main content

2D projectile motion: Vectors and comparing multiple trajectories

Problem

Toy cars 1, 2, and 3 are launched horizontally with the trajectories shown below. Cars 1 and 2 are launched from a 15m high cliff, while Car 3 is launched from a 30m high cliff. We can ignore air friction.
Two diagrams of grey cliffs are vertically aligned with one another and their cliff-tops are towards the left side of the screen. In the upper right corner of the diagram are two grey arrows that are crossing. The upwards pointing arrow is labeled y+ and the rightwards pointing arrow is labeled x+.
The top cliff has two cars on it. One of these cars is blue and labeled 1. The other car is orange and red with a label of 2. A dark grey arrow points downward from the top of the cliff to the bottom of the cliff and is labeled 15 m. A red downwards arcing arrow points from the cliff-top and towards the cliff bottom at the right. A longer arcing blue arrow also extends downwards and to the right. At the cliff bottom are two rightward pointing arrows of red and blue color. The red arrow is labeled x2 = 10 m and the blue arrow is labeled x1 = 20 m.
The bottom cliff has a green car on it that is labeled 3. A dark grey arrow points downward from the top of the cliff to the bottom of the cliff and is labeled 30 m. A green downwards arcing arrow points from the cliff-top and towards the cliff bottom at the right. At the cliff bottom, a green arrow points rightward and is labeled x3 = 10 m.
Rank the time in the air of the cars.
Choose 1 answer:
Stuck?
Stuck?