Feb. 12, 2013 Mrs. Rarig
Physics
Projectile Range Versus Angle
Intro:
First off, what projectile motion is motion in two dimensions in both X & Y directions. The only force on the projectile is gravity. With gravity being a presence and a factor in our everyday lives and in this experiment, gravity will push down on the projectile forcing it back down to the ground. For example if someone shot a cannon straight and there was no gravity then the cannon would keep traveling at a constant speed, go farther and travel in a straight line. Note this is Newtons first law about motion, an object in motion will stay in motion. Now if gravity is involved with the cannon being fired then the force of gravity would cause the cannon to start to slow down, wouldn’t go as far and the direction or trajectory of the cannon ball would be a curved line going down.
Purpose:
The purpose of this lab is to give the student a better understanding about projectile motion and to understand Newtons theories and laws of motion. We will be firing the plastic ball from the projectile launcher three times from eight different angles from the ground & a stool. With this experiment we will see if shooting from the ground gets the plastic ball to travel farther from the ground or from a higher elevation, the stool.
Hypothesis:
My prediction, being a well educated guess, I think shooting from the stool the plastic ball will be able to travel farther. I never really considered gravity as a factor on the trajectory of the ball because I only thought about the weight of the plastic ball and the force and speed of how fast the plastic ball is being fired out of the projectile launcher. Then keeping in mind the angle of the plastic ball being fired, the ball will travel farther around a 30-50 degree angle. From those angles and the plastic ball being fired from a high elevation, the plastic ball would travel a little farther
Cited: http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/newtlaws/u2l1a.cfm#first