MAT 171 Lab #2: Projectile Motion Introduction Projectile Motion A projectile is an object which is projected (thrown, flicked, blown, kicked, shot, ion-thrust, etc.) and then left alone to be acted on only by gravity. On earth, the movement of a projectile can be described by a quadratic function - a projectile's current height depends on its starting height and the time that has elapsed since it began moving. (Assuming no air resistance or other complex physical considerations, like the Coriolis effect!) e.g., A rock which is dropped (not thrown) off a cliff which is 70 meters tall has a height function st( ) which gives the rock's height (in meters) depending on time t seconds after it is dropped: 2 s t t ( ) 4.9 70