Projectile Motion/non-Strobe

Abstract: This experiment was a study of the range and height of a projectile that is launched (V0 >0m/s). Neglecting air resistance, examining the motion of the projectile allowed for the effects of gravity, and its path in the horizontal and vertical direction to be analyzed.

Directions:

The launcher was set at 450 by using the angle scale and string on the launcher. A 16 mm steel ball (projectile) was loaded into launcher with a pushrod until the first click. Based on the approximate landing area, a paper was placed on the table and a carbon paper was taped on top of it. The projectile was fired five times at this angle. Afterwards, the carbon paper was removed and the landings of the projectile were analyzed. An approximate circle was drawn around the landings and using a meter stick, the distance between the center of the circle to the launcher was measured in meters. The uncertainty for this was the radius of the circle, measured by the meter stick in meters. This distance between the circles center and launcher represented the range. The theoretical range was calculated by the following equation. This process was repeated for five other angles.

R= ((V0)2sin2θ)/g

The launcher was reset to 450. A vertically mounted meter stick-caliper jaw combination was placed at the mid point of the range for this angle, as that represents the max height. A carbon paper was taped to this stand. The projectilewas fired five times and the spots, left due to the carbon paper, were analyzed. As before, a circle was drawn around the projectile hit spots and the height was measured in meters. The uncertainty was the radius of the circle. This represents the height but the theoretical height was calculated by the following equation. This was repeated for the same five other angles.

H= ((V02)sin2θ)/2g

Using the range and height, the theoretical angle were calculated by the following equation:

θcomp= tan-1(4H/R)