Rosa uses the formula (vi¡cosθ)tΔ to do a calculation. Which value is Rosa most likely trying to find?

Athe vertical acceleration of a projectile launched at an angle
Bthe vertical acceleration of a projectile launched horizontally
Cthe horizontal displacement of a projectile launched at an angle
Dthe horizontal displacement of a projectile launched horizontally

Please help.

Verified Answer :

km0117

To break this problem down, let's start with what we know. The equation given finds one component of the velocity and multiplies it by the change in time. This will not find the acceleration that the first two answers say it will, meaning that the answer isn't A or B.

That leaves us with the final two answers, C and D. If the projectile was launched horizontally and we were trying to find the horizontal displacement, we wouldn't need to use cosθ to find the horizontal velocity, meaning that our answer is most likely C) the horizontal displacement of a projectile launched at an angle!