Range in Projectile Motion

What is the Range of Projectile Motion? 

The term “range” refers to the horizontal displacement of an object in projectile motion. Since gravity acts in a vertical direction, no acceleration is achieved in a horizontal direction and it shows the line of range. This range is a function of initial speed, just like maximum height gained and time of flight. The equation of motion is applied differently to the x and y axes to find out the unknown parameters. 

The formula for range in projectile motion is, 

Here, v denotes initial velocity, a denotes angle from the horizontal plane due to initial velocity, and g refers to gravity. 

So, in simpler terms, range means the distance between the launch point and the point where a projectile hits the ground. For this, the x direction is taken horizontally and the y direction is taken vertically for solving the kinematic equation. When the projectile reaches vertical velocity zero, it gains maximum height. In physics, projectile motion is when an object takes up a parabolic path to reach the ground. This parabolic path is known as the trajectory of the object. The value of projectile motion depends on initial velocity. Here, force is exerted at the beginning of the flight so that the object can complete a projectile motion.