How to play Air Drop
- Choose a drop and read the height, the plane's speed, or the distance on the card.
- Split the motion in two: the vertical part is free fall from rest, the horizontal part is uniform motion at the plane's speed.
- Type your answer and press Play. The answer sets the release point or the height when there is a target.
- Turn on the strobe and the ball dropped from rest to compare the two motions.
Two motions at once
A crate released from a plane in level flight starts with the plane's horizontal velocity and no vertical velocity. From then on only gravity acts on it, and gravity is vertical. So the horizontal motion is uniform, x = x_r + v·t, as in MRU, and the vertical motion is free fall from rest, y = h − ½·g·t². The two parts are independent: the time in the air depends only on the height, and the crate stays right below the plane until it lands. Together they draw a parabola.
A focused learning model
The crate is a point that leaves the plane with the plane's velocity, with g = 9.8 m/s² and no air resistance; real supply drops use parachutes because air resistance matters. Touchdown is solved exactly at t = √(2h ÷ g), and the velocity just before contact is kept. Each mission has a fixed view with one scale for both axes, and the drop plays in real time.