Projectile Motion
y I. Introduction
In this lab the main focus was projectile motion. A projectile is an object flying through the air that is only under the force of gravity (neglecting air resistance). A projectile moves both horizontally and vertically, which creates a parabolic flight path. In vertical projectile motion there is a constant velocity since there are no forces in the horizontal direction (neglecting drag due to air resistance). Consequently, there is no acceleration in horizontal projectile motion. In vertical projectile motion gravity is acting on the projectile, which means that the acceleration in vertical projectile motion is equal to gravity’s acceleration (9.8m/s2). Some equations for projectile motion are the three kinematic equations, the equation for Vx (Vx = ∆x/∆t), and the equation for time (∆t = 2∆y/g).
The purpose of this lab was to get a projectile falling off a ramp on a table to land in a cup by using equations that are related to projectile motion. The hypothesis was that if all the calculations were correct (based on the horizontal and vertical speed of the projectile, the height of the table, the height of the cup, the time for the projectile to pass through the time gates, and the overall range of the projectile) the projectile would fall into the cup.
II. Procedure
Materials
* A ramp * Clamp * Marble * String * Washers * Light probes with computerized recorder * Styrofoam cup
Procedure
1. Place the ramp on the edge of a table not to close to a wall or anything that the marble might hit. Secure the ramp down with a clamp. Tie a string and attach one watcher to it so that it is just above the ground. 2. Set up the light probes by placing them over the ramp where it becomes horizontal. Make sure they are working right by testing if something goes threw it, than the light on the probe turns red and that the light is green when nothing is moving threw it. 3. Drop the marble from
In this lab the main focus was projectile motion. A projectile is an object flying through the air that is only under the force of gravity (neglecting air resistance). A projectile moves both horizontally and vertically, which creates a parabolic flight path. In vertical projectile motion there is a constant velocity since there are no forces in the horizontal direction (neglecting drag due to air resistance). Consequently, there is no acceleration in horizontal projectile motion. In vertical projectile motion gravity is acting on the projectile, which means that the acceleration in vertical projectile motion is equal to gravity’s acceleration (9.8m/s2). Some equations for projectile motion are the three kinematic equations, the equation for Vx (Vx = ∆x/∆t), and the equation for time (∆t = 2∆y/g).
The purpose of this lab was to get a projectile falling off a ramp on a table to land in a cup by using equations that are related to projectile motion. The hypothesis was that if all the calculations were correct (based on the horizontal and vertical speed of the projectile, the height of the table, the height of the cup, the time for the projectile to pass through the time gates, and the overall range of the projectile) the projectile would fall into the cup.
II. Procedure
Materials
* A ramp * Clamp * Marble * String * Washers * Light probes with computerized recorder * Styrofoam cup
Procedure
1. Place the ramp on the edge of a table not to close to a wall or anything that the marble might hit. Secure the ramp down with a clamp. Tie a string and attach one watcher to it so that it is just above the ground. 2. Set up the light probes by placing them over the ramp where it becomes horizontal. Make sure they are working right by testing if something goes threw it, than the light on the probe turns red and that the light is green when nothing is moving threw it. 3. Drop the marble from