What type of motion is influenced only by a vertical force and analyzed in horizontal and vertical components?

Projectile motion is the type of motion that is influenced solely by a vertical force, which is the force of gravity. When an object is projected into the air, its motion can be analyzed by breaking it down into horizontal and vertical components.

In the vertical direction, the object's motion is affected by gravitational acceleration, causing it to accelerate downwards at approximately 9.81 m/s². The vertical motion can be analyzed using equations of motion to determine various characteristics such as maximum height and time of flight.

In the horizontal direction, there is typically no force acting on the projectile after it is launched (ignoring air resistance), meaning that its horizontal velocity remains constant. This allows for a straightforward analysis of how far and how long the projectile will travel horizontally.

This clear distinction between the horizontal component, which remains uniform, and the vertical component, which is influenced by gravity, characterizes projectile motion effectively. Other types of motion, such as rotational, circular, and linear, do not share this specific combination of characteristics related to vertical forces and the independent analysis of directional components.