The pitcher winds up and throws. The ball lands in the center of the catcher's mitt. But in what direction did the pitcher throw the ball to get it there?

As soon as the ball leaves the pitcher's hand, the gravitational force acts on it, accelerating it toward Earth. The ball is a projectile; the path it follows is its trajectory. In this section we will study the motion of projectiles and other objects that move in two dimensions according to Newton's Laws.

Don't forget to check out your challenge problem for this unit.