Projectile MotionChange Launch Angle
03/05/2012
James Allison section 20362 Group 5
James Allison, Clint Rowe,
& William Cochran
Objective:
In this lab we will compare different parameters of a launched projectile. This includes time of flight, initial velocity, initial vertical velocity, initial horizontal velocity, range, time of max height. All these data points are collected for 30°, 40°, 45°, 50°, 60°, 70°. Date for the 0° angle is was only initial velocity, and time of flight. We will then study the relationship of these data points as a function of launch angle.
Discussion:
We fired the first projectile at 0 degrees, with the piezoelectric landing pad at the same height as the launcher. After inputting the diameter of the ball into Data Studio we commenced our first shot. Adjusted the landing pad accordingly. Then preceded to collect data. We were very careful to ensure that the launcher was at the same launch speed every shot. And we made sure the launch angle was also dead on. We put a pen down the barrel to ensure that the ball bearing was fully seated into the barrel. There were no problems recording the data. There was a consistent error throughout out data collecting. The predicted values were further in range than the actual values. Because the error was consistent we believe that it somewhere in the sensors used to collect information. Conclusion: it's apparent that there is a relationship between the angle of launch and the distance the ball bearing fired. What's even more interesting is the optimum angle for firing the projectile.
Which is 45 degrees. Then the absolute value of the distance in degrees from 45 degrees will produce the same range. For example our data showed that 45 degrees will launch a projectile .88 meters.