4 ms·
A parabolic trajectory would occur if the earth was flat.
by injidup 4y ago
A parabolic trajectory would occur if the earth was flat.
- guerby 4y agoContext is 17th century so ball is not going very far and parabola will be perfect with the measuring technology of the time I think :)
- chongli 4y agoYes and since the earth is large enough to be locally flat a parabola is a great approximation of what happens when we throw a ball.
- ahelwer 4y agoI think it would also require that gravity doesn't obey the inverse-square law, so stays constant in magnitude throughout the entire vertical component of the trajectory. An infinitely-flat earth would also mean the force vector points straight down, instead of shifting slightly to point to the earth's center of mass across the horizontal component of the trajectory.