Human Cannon Ball Lab

Renee Morrison & Elie Sassine

Abstract
The goal in the Human Cannon Ball Lab the
objective was to find out how fast the cannon
would shoot the ball and where the ball would land
at a specific angle. The cannon was set at 3
different notches to help us determine the initial
velocity in the x. Even though the cannon was set
at 3 different notches of air pressure (low, middle,
and high), the ball reached the ground at the same
time each time it was fired. The direction of the
initial velocity of the cannonball was consistently
forward and horizontally. The second part of the
lab was to find the place where the ball was going
to land. Equations were used to figure the distance
by using the acquired information of the velocity in
the x, the time it took for the ball to land, and
acceleration. The distance of the ball to land ended
up being 5.65 meters. The velocity in the x at the
first notch was 4.0 m/s, the third was 6.9 m/s, the
fifth was 9.6 m/s. In the Human Cannon Ball Lab,
all of the objectives mentioned were met.

Objectives
The objectives for the Human Cannon Ball Lab
were to find out where the ball will land and
how fast his cannon will propel him. The ball
was shot at from three different notches to
determine the initial velocity in the X for each
shot. Also each notch had to be at a specific
angle to determine where it landed at that
angle. This determined that no matter what the
notch was set to, it took the same amount of
time for all cannon balls to reach the ground.
The direction of the cannonball was always
forward and horizontal. Also no matter what
the notch was set to, it took the same amount of
time for all cannon balls to reach the ground.

Methods
For the Human Cannon Ball
Lab, research was conducted by
putting the ball into the cannon
and shooting it using three
different notch settings. The
ball was shot five times from
each notch to measure the
distance of the shot. The data
for the distance of the shot was
collected by placing a black
sheet of paper over a white
computer sheet of paper. When
the ball landed on the black
sheet of paper it made a mark
on the white sheet. So the
distance from the cannon to the
mark was measure to get the
distance the ball was shot.
Using the information
collected, the initial velocity
was calculated using the
formula. For part 2 of the lab,
an angle was assigned to each
group for the cannon to be set
at and launched. The distance
of that angle was measured
using the same method as
before.

Results
Based on the data collected in the Human
Cannon Ball Lab, we solved for velocity,
distance and time. When solving for initial
velocity in the X, no matter what the notch
was set to, the time was always the same. In
order to solve for the time, we used the
DeltaY=VoyT+1/2AT^2 which led us to get
the time of .45 Seconds.

Notch 1 Vox:

4.0 m/s

Notch 2 Vox:

6.9 m/s

Notch 3 Vox:

9.6 m/s

The direction of the initial velocity in the

X was always moving forward and
horizontally. The Great Gambini wanted
to know where he would land at a given
angle, which was 45 degrees. Using the
DeltaX=VoxT+1/2AT^2 equation, the
Great Gambini wouldve landed 5.65
Meters from the cannon. To solve for
DeltaX, we measured how far the ball
was shot out of the cannon and converted
the measurements from Kilometers to
meters.

Notch 1
Distance:

1.81 Meters

Notch 2 Distance:

3.11 Meters

Notch 3 Distance:

4.31 Meters

Conclusion
In conclusion, the Human Cannon
Ball Lab was used to solve the
velocity of the ball leaving the
cannon, the distance the ball
traveled, and the time it took to
travel there. Using various
equations and previous knowledge
of physics, the question of
velocity, distance and time were
figured out. The experience of the
doing the Human Cannon Ball Lab
was very interesting and helped
with the understanding of
projectiles in the long-run. This is
important in knowing how
projectiles work in the real world
and is useful when solving
projectile problems. The Human
Cannon Ball Lab was a creative
way to increase our understanding
of projectiles.