PHYSICS Lesson

Two-Dimensional Motion: Projectile & Circular Motion

Shared by A STEM Educator★ Featured Teacher · rated 90+ in our quality review

9BTC Style / Thinking Classrooms15 min

Learning Objective

Students will analyze two-dimensional motion by decomposing projectile motion into independent components and applying centripetal acceleration to uniform circular motion.

Lesson Overview

Students progress from identifying independent horizontal and vertical components of projectile motion, through calculating time of flight and range, to analyzing uniform circular motion using centripetal acceleration — changing only one variable per task.

Materials

Vertical whiteboards or large paper
Dry-erase markers
Pencil and paper
Phone calculator

Scaffolded Task Progression

1Task 1

A ball is launched horizontally from a cliff. Identify which of the following statements are TRUE:A) The horizontal velocity stays constant during flight.B) Gravity accelerates the ball downward at

9.8 m/s^{2}

.C) The ball's horizontal motion slows down because of gravity.D) The vertical velocity is zero at the moment of launch. Discuss with your group and mark all that apply.

2Task 2

A ball rolls off a table and falls straight down

1.25 m

to the floor (launched horizontally, so

v_{y, 0} = 0

).

Use

y = \frac{1}{2} g t^{2}

to find the time of flight.

g = 9.8 m/s^{2}

Unlock the full lesson

See all 5 scaffolded tasks, the full answer key, warm-up, exit slip, and a print-ready version — free to start.

Create a free account

Already have an account? Sign in

Make it your own

Like this lesson but want to tweak it?

Make an editable copy and adjust the tasks, warm-up, and answer key to fit your class — no need to start from scratch.

Generate a new lesson