Initial Velocity Components

It has already been stated and thoroughly discussed that the horizontal and vertical motions of a projectile are independent of each other. The horizontal velocity of a projectile does not affect how far (or how fast) a projectile falls vertically. Perpendicular components of motion are independent of each other. Thus, an analysis of the motion of a projectile demands that the two components of motion are analyzed independent of each other, being careful not to mix horizontal motion information with vertical motion information. That is, if analyzing the motion to determine the vertical displacement, one would use kinematic equations with vertical motion parameters (initial vertical velocity, final vertical velocity, verticalacceleration) and not horizontal motion parameters (initial horizontal velocity, final horizontal velocity, horizontal acceleration). It is for this reason that one of the initial steps of a projectile motion problem is to determine the components of the initial velocity.