Projectile Motion Video Analysis Jericho Missile Iron Man

Students love this activity and it changes how they look at movies and at the physics in film. Video analysis is a powerful tool in a physics class and your students will look forward to the next one.

I created this teacher driven activity around a short clip from the first Iron Man movie that is available on YouTube. You can use this in any level of physics class where students use the sine, cosine and trig functions, even if they aren’t very good at it. Because you drive the analysis, this is an excellent way to push students to higher level mathematics and higher order questioning.

Students measure the time the missile is in the air and the time for the shockwave from the explosion to reach the launch site to determine the launch speed of the missile and to compare the two horizontal values.

This would also work as a quiz for AP Physics 1 or as an activity in trigonometry or pre-calculus.


• Video analysis
• Use of technology
• Cooperative Learning
• Teacher instructions
• Key with sample calculations
• Reinforcement of difficult concepts
• Student handouts


Keywords: horizontal, vertical, projectile, hang time, shock wave, sound, distance, time, speed, velocity, physics, trigonometry, algebra, pre-calculus, calculus, mathematics, angle, tangent, sine, cosine, function, cooperative learning, BYOD, technology, video, analysis, laboratory, experiment, lab, calculation