What is the shape of a projectile's flight path?

The flight path of a projectile is best described as a parabola due to the influence of gravitational force acting on it throughout its motion. When an object is launched into the air at an angle, its horizontal and vertical motions can be analyzed separately. The horizontal motion is uniform, meaning that the object moves at a constant velocity, while the vertical motion is affected by the acceleration due to gravity, which acts downward.

As the projectile rises, its vertical velocity decreases until it reaches its peak height, at which point it starts to descend. The combination of this constant horizontal velocity and the accelerating vertical motion due to gravity results in a curvilinear path that takes the shape of a parabola. This characteristic curve is a result of the quadratic relationship between the height of the projectile and its horizontal distance traveled.

In a vacuum and without any air resistance, the path will resemble a perfect parabola, and this is a fundamental principle in projectile motion studied in physics.