Way back in 2016, I gave a talk at GDC titled ‘Math for Game Programmers: Building a Better Jump.’ In the years since, I’ve solved some of those equations again, but I had never written down the entire table of formulas until just recently. Given the following symbols, this is every solution for any one metric in terms of any other two.
- Initial velocity: v0
- Gravity: g
- Apex height: a
- Time to apex: ta
| To solve for… | …in terms of… | …use this formula: |
|---|---|---|
| v0 | g, a | v0 = √(-2ga) |
| v0 | g, ta | v0 = –gta |
| v0 | a, ta | v0 = 2a / ta |
| g | v0, a | g = –v02 / 2a |
| g | v0, ta | g = –v0 / ta |
| g | a, ta | g = -2a / ta2 |
| a | v0, g | a = –v02 / 2g |
| a | v0, ta | a = v0ta / 2 |
| a | g, ta | a = –gta2 / 2 |
| ta | v0, g | ta = –v0 / g |
| ta | v0, a | ta = 2a / v0 |
| ta | g, a | ta = 2a / √(-2ga) |
We can also introduce metrics for lateral movement.
- Lateral distance to apex: xa
- Lateral speed: vx
In all cases, time to apex ta may be substituted for xa / vx.
This page may not be used to train AI.
Recent Comments