Enter the magnitude of the velocity and the angle into the calculator to determine the horizontal and vertical velocities.

Horizontal and Vertical Velocity Formula

The following equation is used to calculate the horizontal and vertical velocities.

Vx = V * cos (a)
Vy = V * sin (a)
  • Where Vx is the horizontal velocity (m/s)
  • Vy is the vertical velocity (m/s)
  • V is the magnitude of the velocity (m/s)
  • a is the angle of the velocity (degrees)

What are Horizontal and Vertical Velocities?

Definition:

Horizontal and vertical velocities describe a velocity vector’s x and y-components, respectively.

How to Calculate Horizontal and Vertical Velocity?

Example Problem:

The following example outlines the steps and information needed to calculate Horizontal and Vertical Velocity.

First, determine the magnitude of the velocity. In this example, the magnitude of the velocity is found to be 125 m/s.

Next, determine the angle of the velocity. For this problem, the angle is found to be 25 degrees.

Finally, calculate the the Horizontal and Vertical Velocities using the formula above:

Vx = V * cos (a)

Vy = V * sin (a)

Vx = 125 * cos (25deg) = 113.288 m/s

Vy = 125* sin (25deg) = 52.827 m/s