Projectile Motion Experiments
Purpose/Introduction: My class is currently studying the motion of projectiles. My assignment is to create two different experiments exploring the motion of projectiles. The purpose of this assignment is to get us to figure out how for ourselves how projectiles move and to give us practice on how to create our own experiments.
Experiment #1:
Hypothesis: The higher the projectile starts, the further the projectile will travel.
Procedure: Using the projectile interactive on Physics Classroom, set the angle to 45 degrees and the speed to 40m/s. You do not necessarily have to use these measurements for this experiment, but whichever measurements you do use, they have to stay the same the entire experiment in order to get reliable results. After the angle and speed is set, set the height to 0m and start the interactive. Once it finishes, record distance that the projectile went and change only the height. I went up in 30 meter increments. Continue to record the data.
Data Table:
Hypothesis: The higher the projectile starts, the further the projectile will travel.
Procedure: Using the projectile interactive on Physics Classroom, set the angle to 45 degrees and the speed to 40m/s. You do not necessarily have to use these measurements for this experiment, but whichever measurements you do use, they have to stay the same the entire experiment in order to get reliable results. After the angle and speed is set, set the height to 0m and start the interactive. Once it finishes, record distance that the projectile went and change only the height. I went up in 30 meter increments. Continue to record the data.
Data Table:
Results: I did not feel that listing the speed and angle of the projectile was important in this case as it stays the same at 40m/s and at a 45 degree angle, so it is not listed on the data table. I did, however list the new heights that I was experimenting with and the distance that it covers. The distance traveled does get higher as the height increases, but the difference between the distance of one launch to another decreases. The difference of distance covered between the 0m and 30m high launch is 25.89m, between 30m and 60m is 20.77m, between the 60m and 90m is 17.85m, and the difference of distance covered between the 90m and 120m is 15.89m. The difference is steadily decreasing.
Conclusion: This experiment did confirm my hypothesis. I had stated that the higher the projectile starts, the further the projectile will travel.This hypothesis is confirmed by the explained experiment and by the data table shown above. I didn't, however, know that the difference in distance between the launches would decrease.
Conclusion: This experiment did confirm my hypothesis. I had stated that the higher the projectile starts, the further the projectile will travel.This hypothesis is confirmed by the explained experiment and by the data table shown above. I didn't, however, know that the difference in distance between the launches would decrease.
Experiment #2
Hypothesis: A projectile sitting at the angle of 45 degrees will go the farthest possible distance.
Procedure: Using the projectile interactive on Physics Classroom, set the speed to 40m/s and the height to 0m. You do not have you use these specific measurements for the speed and the height, the important thing is that these two variables need to stay the same throughout the entire experiment. Next you start the interactive at 45 degrees and record the data. From there you would do the same test but using different angles different times.
Data Table:
Hypothesis: A projectile sitting at the angle of 45 degrees will go the farthest possible distance.
Procedure: Using the projectile interactive on Physics Classroom, set the speed to 40m/s and the height to 0m. You do not have you use these specific measurements for the speed and the height, the important thing is that these two variables need to stay the same throughout the entire experiment. Next you start the interactive at 45 degrees and record the data. From there you would do the same test but using different angles different times.
Data Table:
Results: The height and speed are not listed on this data table. This is because they are not needed as they stay the same throughout the experiment. Looking at the table, you can clearly see that the most successful angle was the 45 degree angle. The interesting thing is that the distances will mirror each other. If both angles are ten degrees away from 45, whether that be ahead or behind 45, then they will have covered the exact same distance. This is also true if the angle is only one digit away from 45 degrees, as seen when 44 degrees and 46 degrees were tested. Both test ended with a distance of 163.17 meters.
Conclusion: Looking at the data table, I can safely conclude that if it is distance you want out of a projectile, then you need to shoot it at a 45 degree angle. Using a 44 or a 46 degree angle will get you close (only .1 of a meter difference in this case), but the most effective would be 45 degrees. Through this experiment, I also learned that if an angle is the same distance away from 45, then they will have the same distance.
Conclusion: Looking at the data table, I can safely conclude that if it is distance you want out of a projectile, then you need to shoot it at a 45 degree angle. Using a 44 or a 46 degree angle will get you close (only .1 of a meter difference in this case), but the most effective would be 45 degrees. Through this experiment, I also learned that if an angle is the same distance away from 45, then they will have the same distance.