Physics 303/573

Projectile Motion
September 15, 2014

General comments

Consider an object moving under the force of gravity and encountering air resistance.
In general, Newtons law take the form
F~ = mg
z f (v)
v = m~a

(1.1)

where v = |v| is the magnitude of the velocity. For a smooth frictional force f (v),
we can Taylor expand:
1
f (v) = f (0) + f 0 (0)v + f 00 (0)v 2 + ...
2

(1.2)

The book argues that f (0) = 0, but this need not be the caseif we consider a block
sliding on a surface with friction and air resistance, than f (0) = N where is
the coefficient of friction and N is the normal force (see Example 1.1 in chapter 1).
However, for an object moving through a gas or liquid, it is true that f (0) = 0.
In general, if we can find coordinates such that Newtons laws simply become three
one-dimensional systems, we say that the system is separable; for general functions
f (v), Newtons are not separable.

Linear drag

When f (0) = 0, the first term in the expansion is the term linear in velocity. Then
Newtons laws are separable, and it is pretty easy to solve them:1
m
F~ = mg
z ~v = m~a

(2.3)

and hence

1
~r = ~r g
z

This can be integrated in two ways; we have2

(2.4)

1
~r ~v0 = (~r ~r0 ) gt
z

(2.5)

1
z
~v = ~v g

(2.6)

t
1
v x = vx vx (t) = x(t)

= x 0 e

(2.7)

but if we write (2.4) as

we have for the x-component

and similarly

y(t)
= y0 e

(2.8)

These immediately give:



x(t) = x0 + x 0 1 e

y(t) = y0 + y 0 1 e

(2.9)

Note that these reach a limiting value x x0 + x 0 , y y0 + y 0 .

The z component can also be integrated:
Z
1
t
dvz
v z = vz g =
= ln(vz + g) ln(z0 + g)

z0 vz + g

(2.10)

which implies
t

z(t)
= (z0 + g)e g = z0 e g (1 e )
1

(2.11)

As is discussed in the book, linear air resistance is actually a bad approximation for macroscopic
objects; nonetheless, it is interesting to study.
2
I will use ~v0 and ~r0 interchangeably, particularly for the components vx (0) = vx0 = x 0 , etc.

We see there is a limiting velocity vz vter :

vter = g

(2.12)

and hence

vz (t) = vter + (z0 + vter )e

(2.13)

Integrating once more, we get

t

z(t) = z0 + (z0 + vter )(1 e ) vter t

(2.14)

Combining all these equations, we have

t
t
1
~v (t) = ~v0 (~r ~r0 ) gt
z = ~v0 e vter (1 e )
z

and

(2.15)

~r(t) = ~r0 + ~v0 (1 e ) vter (t (1 e ))

z

(2.16)

As we noted above, the terminal velocity ~vter for t lies entirely along the
vertical:
~vter = vter z = g z
(2.17)
and is independent of the initial velocity.
Suppose we choose our coordinates such that ~r0 = 0. The maximum height is
achieved when vz = 0; using (2.5) we find
zmax = h = (z0 gtmax )

(2.18)

where tmax is found from (2.10):

tmax = ln(1 +

z0
)
vter

and hence
h = (z0 vter ln(1 +

(2.19)

z0
))
vter

(2.20)

Notice that at t = 2tmax , the height

z(2tmax ) =

z0 + g

1
(1 +

z0 2
)
vter

!
2 2g ln(1 +

z0
)
vter

z0
z0
1
2 ln(1 +
= 2g 1 +

)
z0
vter 1 + vter
vter

 2
z0
2z0
z0
vter + vter
)
2 ln(1 +
= 2g
z0
vter
1 + vter

(2.21)

0
is positive for all positive values of vzter
; this means that with any amount of (linear)
air resistance, it takes longer for the projectile to fall from its maximum height than
to reach the maximum in the first place.

The actual time tf it takes to fall back down follows from (2.14), and is the solution
to the transcendental equation


tf
z0
+ (1 e )
(2.22)
tf =
g
If we substitute this into (2.9), we find the horizontal range. Alternatively, we can
solve for the time in terms of the range xmax ; we use (2.9) to write
tf

1 e =

xmax
x 0

which, when substituted into (2.22), gives



z0 xmax
tf = 1 +
vter
x 0

(2.23)

(2.24)

But (2.23) can be solved directly for tf :



xmax
tf = ln 1
x 0

(2.25)

Setting (2.24) and (2.25) equal, we find a transcendental equation for xmax :




1
z0 xmax
xmax
+
1+
=0
(2.26)
ln 1
x 0

vter
x 0
If we assume that we can expand in 1 , using ln(1 x) = x 12 x2 13 x3 . . ., we
find

2

3

4


xmax 1 xmax
1 xmax
1 xmax
1
z0 xmax

... +
1+
=0
x 0
2 x 0
3 x 0
4 x 0

vter
x 0
(2.27)
4

which implies
1
2

xmax
x 0

1
+
3

xmax
x 0

2

1
+
4

xmax
x 0

3
+ ...

z0
=0
vter

3

(2.28)

We rewrite this as
xmax = 2 x 0

1
z0

vter 3

xmax
x 0

2

xmax
x 0

+ ...

(2.29)

The leading term in 1/ gives the frictionless result (using vter = g ),

xmax =

2x 0 z0
+ ...
g

(2.30)

Substituting this into (2.29) and keeping the next order term we get


2x 0 z0
4 z0
xmax =
+ ...
1
g
3 vter

(2.31)

Keeping the next order in (2.29), we find

xmax

3
3.1

2x 0 z0
=
g

4 z0
14
1
+
3 vter
9

z0
vter

2
+ ...

(2.32)

Quadratic drag
Dimensional analysis

Whereas linear drag is rather easy to analyze, it is harder to understandit has to

do with properties of the medium. Quadratic drag is quite natural from a purely
dimensional point of view. In contrast with electromagnetic and gravitational forces,
the drag force exerted on the body shouldnt depend on the mass or composition of
the body, but only on its shape. However, to get units of force, we need a mass, so
the drag force should be proportional to the density of the medium. A force needs
to have units 1/t2 , which comes from v 2 . And it needs an overall unit of length;
since 1/`3 and v 2 `2 , we find
F~(quad

drag)

Av 2

(3.33)

here A is the cross-sectional area of the object. This is very reasonable, and can be
derived from conservation of momentum (the moving object transfers momentum to
the medium)see problem 2.4.
It also happens to be the case that for macroscopic objects in air, quadratic drag is
by far the most important.

3.2

Integrating Newtons laws for quadratic drag

Newtons laws now imply

c
~r = g
z v~v
m

or, in cartesian coordinates

cp 2
vx + vz2 vx ,
v x =
m

v z = g

(3.34)

cp 2
vx + vz2 vz
m

(3.35)

The book says that these cant be solved in general and considers the special cases of
purely horizontal and purely vertical motion, but by a clever trick, we can get pretty
far and reduce the problem to some complicated integrals.
Lets start by looking at a combination of the two equations that gets rid of the ugly
square root:
vz
(3.36)
v z = g + v x
vx
We see that the slope of the trajectory, vz /vx seems to play a big role, so lets give
it a new name: w = vz /vx . Then we can rewrite (3.36) as
w =

g
vx

(3.37)

We can also rewrite the first equation in (3.35) as

v x =

c
1 + w2 vx2
m

(3.38)

Differentiating (3.37), we find

w =
and hence
w =

g v x
vx2

cg
1 + w2
m
6

(3.39)

(3.40)

We integrate this equation as follows (this technique works quite often, so it is important!): multiply both sides by w to get


d 1 2
cg
w w =
w
=
1 + w2 w
(3.41)
dt 2
m
and hence
2cg
w =
m
2

dw

1 + w 2 =

cg 
w 1 + w2 + ln (w + 1 + w2 ) A (3.42)
m

where w is the dummy integration variable and A is an integration constant; (3.37)

implies that A must be


q
q
mg
2
2
(3.43)
A = w0 1 + w0 + ln w0 + 1 + w0 + 2
cx 0
Using (3.37,3.42), we have found the explicit relation between vx and vz .
We can integrate any equation of the form w 2 = f (w):
Z w(t)
dw
p
t=
f (w)

w0

(3.44)

where the choice of the sign of the square root depends on whether we are going
forward or backward in time.
Applying this to (3.42), we find
r Z w(t)
m
dw
q
t=

cg w0
A w 1 + w 2 ln (w + 1 + w 2 )

(3.45)

Here we have negative branch of the square root, because as t increases, the body
is falling, and hence w(t) w0 grows more and more negative. This integral gives
us t(w), and implicitly, w(t). We can also find explicit integral expressions for x(w)
and z(w) using the chain rule. We write
Z t
Z w(t)
dw
x(t) = x0 +
dt vx (t) = x0 +
vx (w)

(3.46)
w
0
w0
and hence,
Z

x(w) = x0 +
w0

dw
w

= x0 g
w0

dw
2
w

(3.47)

which, using (3.42), becomes

m
x(w) = x0
c

A w 1 +

w0

w 2

dw

ln (w + 1 + w 2 )

Similarly, using vz = wvx we find

Z
m w
wd
w

z(w) = z0
2
c w0 A w 1 + w ln (w + 1 + w 2 )

3.3

(3.48)

(3.49)

Various limits

In the book, the special cases vx = 0 and g = vz = 0 are solved explicitly, but we
can read off a lot of precise information from our general solution. For example, we
see w always decreases from w0 , eventually becoming large and negative. As this
happens, from (3.42) we find
cg
cg 2
g2
(w2 + ...) =
(v + ...)
2
vx
m
mvx2 z

(3.50)

and hence the terminal velocity is

r
vter =

mg
c

At the top of the motion, w = 0, and hence, using (3.42,3.37), we find

r
mg
vter
vtop =
=
cA
A

(3.51)

(3.52)

Similarly, we can study (3.48) to find that for large (negative) w, x(w) approaches
an asymptote
m
x xmax +
(3.53)
cw
whereas (3.49) tells us that z(w) diverges logarithmically:
z

m
ln(w)
c

To write this in terms of t, we can do a similar analysis of (3.45) and find

r
m
t
ln(w)
cg
8

(3.54)

(3.55)

This implies that for large t

x xmax

m cg t
m
e
c

(3.56)

and
z vter t

(3.57)

(Note, however, that the factor m/c in front of the exponent in (3.56) may receive
p corrections due to constant terms that were neglected in (3.55); the coefficient cg/m
in the exponent is correct).

General power-law drag

We can easily treat it in much the same way as we treated the case of quadratic
drag. We now have:
v x =

c 2
(v + vz2 ) vx ,
m x

v z = g

c 2
(v + vz2 ) vz
m x

(4.58)

Equations (3.36,3.37) are unchanged:

v z = g +

vz
g
v x w =
vx
vx

(4.59)

where w = vz /vx as before. However, we now have

v x = g

w
c
c
g
= (1 + w2 ) (vx )2+1 = (1 + w2 ) ( )2+1
2
w
m
m
w

(4.60)

which implies
w(
w)
2 =

g 2 c
(1 + w2 ) w
m

(4.61)

and hence (for 6= 1/2)

(w)
2+1
g 2 c
=
2 + 1
m

(1 + w2 ) dw

(4.62)

for general , this integrates to a hypergeometric function. For integer , which

corresponds the drag proportional to an odd power of the velocity (e.g., linear drag
is = 0), the integral is trivial and can be easily evaluated. The case of quadratic
drag corresponds to = 1/2, and was discussed above. Another special case, which
9

we now focus on, is = 1/2, which corresponds to constant (speed independent)

drag. Then we have
ln(w)
=

c
c
sinh1 (w) =
(ln(w + 1 + w2 ) ln(A))
mg
mg

and hence
w = A(w +

1 + w 2 )

(4.63)

(4.64)

where = c/mg and the integration constant A is

A=

g
p
x 0 (w0 + 1 + w02 )

(4.65)

Remarkably, this is an elementary integral, and hence the system is completely solvable:

1
2 ) ( 1 + w 2 + w)
(w
+
t=
1
+
w
(4.66)
A(1 2 )

10