PREVNEXTSUBMITMenuResourcesGlossaryNotesClear and return to MenuSearch ResultsFilterSlide TextNotesSearch in:Check to includeSearch...TermsDefinitiondefinitionresourcessearchpauseplayreplaysubmitnextpreviousvolumesolving projectile motion problems when solving projectile motion problems we can split the given information into horizontal and vertical components and use the following characteristics to help us find the solution: horizontal motion is constant, therefore the initial horizontal velocity (vix) will remain the horizontal velocity at all times horizontal acceleration (ax) = 0 vertical acceleration is constant. vy = 9.8 m/s2 the change in time (∆t) is the same for both the horizontal and vertical components example 1 a mountain biker traveling at a speed of 7.0 m/s rides over the side of a 15 m high cliff and lands safely at the bottom. calculate: a) how long it takes for the biker to reach the ground. b) how far from the base of the cliff the biker will land. a mountain biker traveling at a speed of 7.0 m/s rides over the side of a 15 m high cliff and lands safely at the bottom. calculate: a) how long it takes for the biker to reach the ground. b) how far from the base of the cliff the biker will land. first it is a good idea to sketch out the problem to give yourself an idea of how the components of a problem will be organized. 15 m vix =7.0 m/s b) dx = ? distance (m) time (s) a) ∆t = ? the next step is to organize all of the given and assumed information into vertical and horizontal components. a) how long does it take for the biker to hit the ground? next, we take the given information and find a kinematic equation that we can apply using that information to solve for one of our desired unknown variables, in this case ∆t. 15 m vix =7.0 m/s time (s) a) ∆t = ? a) how long does it take for the biker to hit the ground? from our table we have have vertical values for acceleration (ay), initial velocity (viy) and displacement (dy) therefore we can use the equation: plugging in values for displacement, initial velocity and acceleration from our table and solving: therefore, it took 1.8 seconds for the biker to hit the ground. b) how far from the base of the cliff will the biker land? as we said earlier, ∆t is the same for the vertical and horizontal components, therefore we can use the value for ∆t we just calculated for the vertical component to determine horizontal component values. since we know vx and ∆t we can rearrange the simple kinematic equation for velocity to solve for the horizontal displacement: therefore, the biker will land 12.6 meters from the base of the cliff.