Equations of motion
Applications

Elementary and frequent examples in kinematics involve projectiles, for example a ball thrown upwards into the air. Given initial velocity u, one can calculate how high the ball will travel before it begins to fall. The acceleration is local acceleration of gravity g. While these quantities appear to be scalars, the direction of displacement, speed and acceleration is important. They could in fact be considered as unidirectional vectors. Choosing s to measure up from the ground, the acceleration a must be in fact −g, since the force of gravity acts downwards and therefore also the acceleration on the ball due to it.

At the highest point, the ball will be at rest: therefore v = 0. Using equation in the set above, we have:

Substituting and cancelling minus signs gives:
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