Projectile Motion (Concepts)

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victorias

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During projectile motion, does an object always fall to the ground with the same velocity and at the same angle as the initial velocity and angle? (assuming no air resistance) So at the initial and final points, we can say that there is maximum kinetic energy and at max height, there is maximum potential energy (like in the springs/pendulum cases)? And if there is air resistance, I know that the final velocity will be slower but what happens to the final angle with which the object would fall to the ground?

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When you have x and y components of flight, motion is always symmetrical if you begin and end at the same height. Neglecting air resistance, you could say that at max. height, the object has the highest gravitational potential energy at at the instant before it touches the ground, it has the highest kinetic energy.

Air resistance introduces a lot of different factors into the equation and I don't think you need to know that for the MCAT. For your personal enjoyment, this will be interesting: http://farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/336k/Newtonhtml/node29.html
 
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