Uh, I dunno I haven't really looked into that chapter... I just know it's
there... <goes to check> OK. It talks specifically about "Projectile Motion
with Air Resistance".

Here's the pseudocode they propose:

1) Identify the mass (m), area (A) of the silhouette of the object (as seen
from the front), drag coefficient (C), and density (p) of the air. D =
(p*C*A)/2

2) Choose the time interval DeltaT, and the initial values of x, y, Vx, Vy,
and T. You may want to express velocity as magnitude and direction.

3) Choose a maximum number of intervals N or the maximum time
(T_max=N*DeltaT).

4) Loop steps 5-9 while n < N or T < Tmax

5) Calculate acceleration components: ax = -(D/m)*V*Vx     ay
= -g-(D/m)*V*Vy

6) Plot x, y, Vx, Vy, ax, and ay.

7) Calculate new velocity components:  Vx + DeltaVx = Vx + ax*DeltaT
Vy + DeltaVy = Vy + ay*DeltaT

8) Calculate new coordinates: x + Deltax = x + Vx*DeltaT + ax*(DeltaT^2)/2
y + Deltay = y + Vy*DeltaT + ay*(DeltaT^2)/2

9) Increment the time by DeltaT.

10) Stop.



That should be it. At least, that's all the book has to say about that.
Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

Post a reply to this message