Projectile general motion in a vacuum and a spreadsheet simulation

This paper gives the solution and analysis of projectile motion in a vacuum if the launch and impact heights are not equal. Formulas for the maximum horizontal range and the corresponding angle are derived. An Excel application that simulates the motion is also presented, and the result of an experiment in which 38 secondary school students developed the application and investigated the system is given. A questionnaire survey was carried out to find out whether the students found the lessons interesting, learned new skills and wanted to model projectile motion in the air as an example of more realistic motion. The results are discussed.