Projectile motion demonstrator in Desmos

In the algebra and trigonometry class I transition into vectors using a projectile motion demonstration on the lawn.  A ball is thrown into a parabolic trajectory. The launch angle is tracked with a protractor, a radar gun for sports is used to obtain the speed of the ball. Back in the classroom the horizontal and vertical components of the velocity are used to work out the distance the ball travels and the height to which the ball rises. As an exercise in Desmos, I put together a demonstrator that takes any angle and speed as inputs, calculates the distance and height, and plots the arc on the graph. I then added a ball that "flies" along the arc. The Desmos projectile motion demonstrator is available online.



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