physics element in "october sky"

[furtivefelon]

hi, my physics teacher gave us a project, we watched "October Sky" in class, and the teacher wants us to do a two page report on the "physics element" of october sky, one of the most prominent moment with the most physics presented is when Homer trys to prove to his principal that the rocket didn't start the fire, and in fact the rocket landed elsewhere.. i can't understand the physics behind his explanation, and also don't understand his chart, he used parabola for finding where the rocket landed.. can someone tell me (or refer me) how do you suppose to find out how long a distance a rocket going in parabola has traveled?

[Chi Meson]

This scene is where Homer discusses "projectile motion." Have you done this yet? In the scene he refers to the acceleration of gravity as "32 feet per second squared." You might have heard of the metric equivalent "9.8 meters per second squared."

Anyway, I assume you have a textbook. Look up "projectile motion" and it will have plenty of parabolas there.