Simulation · Physics · Class 11

Thrown up, coming down: one acceleration all the way

From the lesson Free fall and vertical motion under gravity in Motion in a Straight Line. Change the values and watch what happens.

The idea behind it

NCERT § "Kinematic Equations for Uniformly Accelerated Motion"

Near the earth's surface, with air resistance neglected, every body has the same downward acceleration g ≈ 9.8 m s⁻², whatever its mass.
If upward is taken positive, a = −g throughout the flight, on the way up, at the top and on the way down.
A body released from rest falls a distance ½gt² in time t, and its speed after falling a height h is √(2gh).
A body thrown up with speed u rises to a height u²/2g in time u/g; with no air resistance it takes the same time to come down to the launch level and returns with the same speed.
When a body is thrown up from a height above the ground, use one equation from launch to landing with the landing displacement taken as negative; there is no need to split the flight.
Galileo's law of odd numbers: for a body starting from rest with constant acceleration, distances covered in successive equal time intervals are in the ratio 1 : 3 : 5 : 7 and so on.
In free fall, v plotted against t is a straight line with slope −g (upward positive), while x plotted against t is a parabola.

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