PROJECTILE

MOTION
OF AN
ELEVATED BALL
GALANAGA, GEALON, ISNAIN - BSED2A - PHYSICS LAB
INTRODUCTION
This study mainly focuses on the projectile motion of a released and
elevated ball.

Projectile motion is defined as the motion of an object that has been

launched and is subject to only the force of gravity and the force of
air friction. After the initial force that launches the object, it only
experiences the force of gravity, the object is called a projectile, and
its path is called its trajectory. Moreover, in projectile motion, the
horizontal motion and the vertical motion are independent of each
other; that is, neither motion affects the other. This is the principle
of compound motion established by Galileo in 1638, and used by
him to prove the parabolic form of projectile motion.

In this paper, an experiment was conducted to compute the time of

fall of a released object from an elevated surface. Moreover, this
experiment also includes computation of the velocity of the
projectile and the range it covered given the time of flight
HYPOTHESIS
The time of fall can be computed with an
object that is released with a known
elevation and with known time of flight, the
computation of the velocity of a projectile
and range is possible.

EXPERIMENT LOCALE
This experiment was done in the residential
house of one of the proponents located at 3rd
Road Candido, Don Alfaro street, Tetuan.
 Figure 1. The actual
METHODOLOGY MATERIALS AND METHODS illustration of the Experiment
The materials needed for this experiment is a
Metal ball, stopwatch and a meter stick.

The general procedure for this experiment will start by

elevating one end of the table and release the ball from the
top of the inclined plane. Then, the distance (x) covered by
the rolling ball starting from the foot of the plane to the
edge of the table is measured using meter stick. After that,
the time, t1, it takes for the ball to travel this distance is
recorded. This was done three times (three trials) and the
average value was also computed. Also, the Vox is
determined. At this point, the ball is release again and let it
land on the floor. Now, the actual range of the projectile
from the point is measured horizontally down where the ball
was released, to where the marks are close together. This
was also done three times and the average was also
calculated. Lastly, the actual height of the table is measured
as the height of fall. The recorded data was tabulated and
analyzed.
 Figure 1. The actual illustration of the Experiment
METHODOLOGY
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The observations and results taken from the experiment were tabulated in the table below.
Table 1. The time to it takes for the ball to travel the
distance from the foot of the plane to the edge of the
table at 45º
In table 1, this shows the time it takes for the ball to
travel the distance from the foot of the plane to the
edge of the table at an angle of 45º. The average was
also calculated which is 1.16 second. These data is used
to calculate the horizontal displacement and Vxo. The
results for the calculation are shown in the table 3.
Table 2. The distance and time it takes for the ball to travel from
the edge of the table to the landing point
In table 2, this shows the distance and time it takes for the ball to
travel from the edge of the table to the landing point or the point
where the ball reached the floor. These data will be specifically
used to find the ymax, measured horizontal distance, calculated
horizontal distance, and the percentage error which is tabulated in
the table 4. This is mainly to know the projectile motion of the ball.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The observations and results taken from the experiment were tabulated in the table below.

Table 3. Horizontal Displacement and Vx0

In order to supplement the needed data for table 3 the initial velocity is calculated using the
formula Vi = d/t; where the distance is 1 meter and the time is based from table 1.

In table 3, the Horizontal Displacement (dx) was calculated using the formula dx = (Vix)(t).
This is to know the range Vx0 from the first, second, and third trial; which was then solve for
the average. The time (t1) is from the data of table 1. Lastly, the Vx0 is calculated using the
formula Vx0 = V0 and the average is also calculated.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The observations and results taken from the experiment were tabulated in the table below.

Horizontal velocity
component:

Vx = V cos⁡θ
Vx = (1.32 m/s) cos⁡(45)
Vx = 0.93 m/s

Table 4. The Ymax, Xe, Xc, and percentage error

In table 4, the Ymax, measured horizontal distance, calculated horizontal distance, and the percentage error are
calculated. In order to find the Ymax, the height of the table was used. The time is taken from table 2. The Xe is measured
from the horizontal distance between launching and landing points. The Xc is calculated using the formula Xc = Vo )t. In the
calculation of percentage error, the formula % error = is used; this is to compare how accurate the measured horizontal
distance compared to the calculated horizontal distance. According to the percentage given by the % error, it’s greater than 0-
5% and thus it is too far to be accepted as accurate.
As a need computation for this investigation, the Vx and Vy are calculated using the formulae Vx = V and Vy = V where the
distance is from the table 2’s average distance and the time is from table 2’s average time.
CONCLUSION
With the calculations and data being used in the
experiment, the hypothesis of this investigation is
accepted and proven as the the time of fall can be
computed with an object that is released with a known
elevation and with known time of flight, the computation
of the velocity of a projectile and range is possible.
REFERENCES

Projectile motion (n.d.). Webassign. Retrieved from

http://www.wenbassign.net/question_assets/unccolphysmechl1/lab_3/manual.html.
Wikipedia contributors.(n.d.). Projectile motion. Wikipedia. Retrieved from
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Projectile_motion.
Projectile motion (n.d.). Study.com. Retrieved from
http://study.com/academy/lesson/projectile-motion-experiment.html
Projectile motion (n.d.).Mansfieldct. Retrieved from
http://www.mansfieldct.org/Schools/MMS/staff/hand/Projectilemotion.html