Projectile motion : experimental datasets and classroom exercises

Wadsworth, Fabian B and Vasseur, Jérémie and Foster, Annabelle and Smith, Alex P W and Byatt, Nathan A and Allgood, Ceri and Loisel, Ariane and Bintang, Fakhri and Squirrell, David and Paine, Alice and Bretagne, Eloïse and Brown, Joshua and Winstanley, Rebecca and Lavallée, Yan and Brown, Richard J and Kueppers, Ulrich (2025) Projectile motion : experimental datasets and classroom exercises. Physics Education, 60 (4): 045024. ISSN 0031-9120

Abstract

The motion of a projectile is a classic topic and is used to illustrate physical and mathematical concepts and techniques. Despite the ubiquity of this problem in pedagogic contexts, there exist few available laboratory datasets and step-by-step exercises for how to use them for teaching at a wide range of levels—from high school through to college/university. Such datasets are particularly important for virtual learning environments where primary data collection may not be possible. Here, we present such a dataset for use with physics and science classes at a range of levels. We provide (1) derivations of the equations of motion, (2) experimental data for projectile motion at a wide range of launch angles and velocities to test predictions from the equations of motion, and (3) analysis steps for comparing theory with experiment. We discuss alternative and extension activities for both mathematical and experimental approaches, as well as a wide range of real-world applications of this problem. Taken together, we propose that this is a learning package that can be adapted for many teaching scenarios.