Projectile motion calculator: range, maximum height, time of flight and impact speed for any launch angle and height, on Earth or other worlds, with drag.
The projectile flies for 2.884 s, peaks 10.2 m above the ground and lands 40.79 m away at 20 m/s.
The launch velocity splits into a horizontal part, v cos θ, which stays constant, and a vertical part, v sin θ, which gravity reduces by g every second. The time of flight is when the height returns to the ground, found by solving the vertical motion; the range is horizontal speed × flight time. On level ground this reduces to R = v² sin 2θ ÷ g.
It answers homework problems and sports or water-jet estimates. The default throw, 20 m/s at 45° on Earth, peaks at 10.20 m and lands 40.79 m away after 2.88 s. The same throw on the Moon, where g = 1.62 m/s², travels 246.9 m.
Without the drag option, air resistance, spin and the Earth's curvature are ignored, which overstates the range of fast or light objects. The linear-drag option shows how drag shortens and steepens the path; real balls at sports speeds meet drag closer to v², so read that result as a trend.
Checked against: Python 3.8 math: R = v²sin2θ/g, H = v²sin²θ/(2g), T = 2v·sinθ/g with g = 9.80665
Checked against: Python 3.8 math: T = (v_y + √(v_y² + 2gh))/g = 2.3847661…, R = v_x·T, v_impact = √(v² + 2gh)
Checked against: Python 3.8 math: 400/1.62 and 2·20·sin45°/1.62 (NASA g_Moon = 1.62 m/s²)
Checked against: Python 3.8 math: T = √(2h/g) = 2.0196200…, R = vT, tan φ = gT/v
On level ground with no air resistance, 45° gives the longest range, because R = v² sin 2θ ÷ g and sin 2θ peaks when 2θ = 90°. Launching from a height moves the best angle lower: from a 10 m cliff at 15 m/s it is about 36.2°, which reaches 31.4 m against 30.5 m at 45°. Air drag also lowers the best angle.
On level ground, T = 2v sin θ ÷ g, so a 20 m/s launch at 45° on Earth stays up 2.88 s. From a launch height h, take the positive root of h + v sin θ·t − ½gt² = 0, which is T = (v sin θ + √(v² sin² θ + 2gh)) ÷ g. The time to the highest point is v sin θ ÷ g, half the level-ground flight time.
Complementary angles give the same range on level ground because sin 2θ = sin(180° − 2θ). At 20 m/s, launches at 30° and 60° both land 35.32 m away. The 60° shot climbs three times as high, 15.30 m against 5.10 m, and stays up 3.53 s instead of 2.04 s, which matters when the path has to clear an obstacle.
It depends on the object's mass, size and speed. With the linear model here, a 0.145 kg ball thrown at 20 m/s and 45° with b = 0.01 kg/s lands 35.95 m away instead of 40.79 m, about 12% shorter, and peaks at 9.57 m instead of 10.20 m. Drag also makes the descent steeper than the climb, so the path is no longer a symmetric parabola.
Accuracy depends on your inputs and the method's assumptions. Decimal arithmetic uses 50 significant digits, but estimates, numerical methods and source data can be less precise; the displayed rounding does not remove those limits. It is checked against 6 worked examples whose answers come from independent sources; for example, “20 m/s at 45° on Earth” is checked against Python 3.8 math: R = v²sin2θ/g, H = v²sin²θ/(2g), T = 2v·sinθ/g with g = 9.80665.
OpenStax University Physics Volume 1, §4.3 Projectile motion; Taylor, Classical Mechanics (2005), §2.2–2.3 Linear air resistance; NASA Planetary Fact Sheet — surface gravity.
6 worked examples with independently sourced answers ship with this calculator. They run in the test suite; you can run them here too.
Kinematics calculator for the SUVAT equations: enter three of displacement, initial and final velocity, acceleration and time to get the other two.
Orbital velocity and period, escape velocity, surface gravity, your weight on the Moon or Mars, and the gravitational force between two masses.
Kinetic energy (½mv²), potential energy (mgh), spring energy, work (Fd cos θ) and power (W/t), solved for any variable, plus the speed after a drop.
Solve Newton's second law F = ma for force, mass or acceleration, or find acceleration, normal force and friction for a block on an inclined plane.
Momentum and collision calculator: final velocities, total momentum and kinetic energy lost in an elastic, inelastic or partly elastic head-on collision.
Centripetal force and acceleration from mass, speed and radius; rpm to rad/s and period; moment of inertia of nine shapes; torque from force and lever arm.
Allow optional Google Analytics to measure page visits? Calculators work either way. Privacy and choices
Optional analytics: off.