Enter the total initial velocity and the angle into the calculator to determine the initial horizontal velocity.

Initial Horizontal Velocity Formula

The following equation is used to calculate the Initial Horizontal Velocity.

Vx = Vi * cos (a)

  • Where Vx is the initial horizontal velocity (m/s)
  • Vi is the total initial velocity (m/s)
  • a is the angle of the velocity vector (degrees)

What is the Initial Horizontal Velocity?

Definition:

An initial horizontal velocity measures the magnitude of the x-component of a velocity vector.

How to Calculate Initial Horizontal Velocity?

Example Problem:

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

First, determine the total initial velocity. In this example, the total initial velocity is found to be 300m/s.

Next, determine the angle of the velocity vector. For this problem, the angle of the velocity vector is found to be 47 degrees.

Finally, calculate the Initial Horizontal Velocity using the formula above:

Vx = Vi * cos (a)

Vx = 300 * cos (47deg)

Vx = 204.599 m/s