2D Motion

All Lessons

NYSSLS Reading Passages: 2D Motion

2D Motion Physics of Geosynchronous Satellites
View from above the North Pole: a satellite 35,800 km up orbits once every 24 hours, the same time Earth takes to spin, so it stays directly above the same spot on the ground
A satellite hangs over the same patch of Earth for years without ever firing an engine. Students unpack the circular-motion balancing act — gravity pulling in, orbital speed pushing out — that keeps it locked in place, and why that "golden altitude" is the same for every geostationary craft. Open Reading Passage Regents Practice Version Interactive Regents Practice
2D Motion Newton's Cannonball: The Thought Experiment That Explained Orbits
Newton's cannonball: cannonballs fired horizontally from a mountaintop at increasing speeds fall to the ground (A, B), circle Earth (C), trace an ellipse (D), or escape into space (E)
Fire a cannonball fast enough from a tall enough mountain, and it never lands — it just keeps falling as the Earth curves away beneath it. Students use Newton's own thought experiment to see how an orbit is really projectile motion in disguise, with horizontal velocity and vertical gravity acting completely independently — then go further to explore artificial satellites and the escape velocity needed to leave Earth for good. Open Reading Passage Regents Practice Version Interactive Regents Practice

Interactive Regents Practice from the Lessons

Each link jumps to the self-grading NYSSLS practice section at the bottom of a lesson page (13 lessons): a Regents-style question plus a challenge set with Support/Refute, substitute-values, vector, bar-graph and constructed-response questions.

Force Vectors

Projectile Motion