Asked by jacob

what happens when your shooting something and you dont have air resistance

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
If there is no air resistance (i.e., in a vacuum), a fired projectile behaves as an ideal projectile under gravity only. Main consequences:

- Motion separates into independent horizontal and vertical components.
- Horizontal velocity is constant (no horizontal force): x(t) = v0 cosθ · t.
- Vertical motion has constant downward acceleration g: y(t) = v0 sinθ · t − ½ g t² (choose launch at y=0).

- Trajectory: the path is a parabola. With launch and landing at the same height the range R is
R = v0² sin(2θ) / g,
maximal at θ = 45°.

- Time of flight: T = 2 v0 sinθ / g (for equal launch/landing heights).
- Maximum height: H = v0² sin²θ / (2g).

- Mass independence: all masses fall the same way (neglecting other forces), so shots of different mass but same initial velocity follow the same trajectory.

- Energy: mechanical energy (kinetic + potential) is conserved until impact (no drag to dissipate kinetic energy).

- Practical effects: bullets or thrown objects would travel farther and straighter; there is no terminal velocity (speed can increase continuously under gravity until collision); effects like aerodynamic lift, drag, and the Magnus effect (from spin) are absent.

If you want, I can show a quick numerical example or plot for particular v0 and θ.