ADDIS ABABA SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF NATURAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS
GENERAL PHYSICS (1011)
LABORATORY REPORT
EXPERIMENT 1: HORIZONTAL PROJECTILE MOTION
(ROLLING A STEEL BALL DOWN ON INCLINED TRACK)
Sr. no Name of Reporters ID no

1.

2.

3. GASHEHUN DEMISE ets 0534/13

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

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10.

Submission Date: November 17 2021

Submitted to:
 GENERAL PHYSICS PROJECTILE MOTION LAB. REPORT

HORIZONTAL PROJECTILE MOTION

(ROLLING A STEEL BALL DOWN ON INCLINED TRACK)

Objectives of the experiment:

The objective of this experiment is to predict where a steel ball will land when it
released from a certain height on an inclined ramp based on theoretical formulae
and calculate its actual the total horizontal distance (range) where a steel ball will
land by doing experiment. In general, the following are the objectives of this
experiment.

To predict where a steel ball will land and when released from a certain height on
an Inclined ramp

To calculate the horizontal range of a steel ball rolled down from an inclined ramp
(track)

Apparatus / Materials:

 Inclined ramp(track)
 Meter stick
 Steel ball (1 to 5cm in diameter)
 Carbon paper
 Sheets of white paper
 Table

INTRODUCTION (THEORY)
 GENERAL PHYSICS PROJECTILE MOTION LAB. REPORT

When a ball is thrown horizontally from a certain height it will have a curved
motion that can be described as a combination of two straight line motions: one
vertical motion and the other horizontal motion. The motion in the vertical
direction is a uniformly accelerated motion whereas the motion in the horizontal
direction is a uniform motion. The positive x - direction is horizontal and to the
right, and the y - direction is vertical and positive upward. The most important
experimental fact about projectile motion in two dimensions is that the horizontal
and vertical motions are completely independent of each other. This means that
motion in one direction has no effect on motion in the other direction.

This 2D motion is known as projectile motion. Projectile motion is the motion of

an object through the air after the initial force launches it and the object
experiences only the force of gravity. The path followed by projectile motion is
known as trajectory and the object is called projectile. Projectile motion is the
example of motion with constant acceleration. In this experiment projectile will be
fired from some height above the floor and the position where it lands will be
predicted. To make prediction requires knowing how to describe the motion of the
projectile using laws of physics. Ignoring air resistance ay=-g and ax=0 in the
direction of the initial velocity.

The equation of motion in the horizontal direction is X=Vot and the equation of
motion

For the vertical direction is Y=½gt²where x is the horizontal distance travelled by

the projectile, y is the vertical displacement of the projectile and t is the time of
flight of the projectile.
 GENERAL PHYSICS PROJECTILE MOTION LAB. REPORT

Figure 1: (Horizontal projectile motion from inclined ramp above the ground)

Horizontal range is equal velocity times time in second.

R = Vt

Solving equation for time we can use the following equations.

Y = Ut + 1/2gt2

Y = 1/2gt2 (since, initial velocity (U) is zero)

Then, t = √(2Y/g)

Solving equation for velocity we can use the following equations.

At the top of the ramp, when the ball bearing is released from rest, it will only have
PE, PE = mgh. At the base of the ramp the ball has both translational KE, KE =
½mv², and when rolling down it has also rotational KE, KErot=½Iw². Based on our
 GENERAL PHYSICS PROJECTILE MOTION LAB. REPORT

previous knowledge moment of inertia for a solid sphere is given by I=⅖mr² and
V=wr -> w=V/r.

PEtop = KE + KErot

mgh = ½mv² + ½Iw²

mgh = ½mv² + ½(⅖mr²)(V/r)

gh = ½v² + ⅕v²

gh = 7v²/10

V = √(10gh/7)

Now time and velocity expression so we can our range

R = Vt = √(10gh/7) × √(2Y/g)R = √(20hY/7)

Figure2: (Horizontal projectile motion from inclined ramp above the ground)

Experimental Procedure:

1.We placed inclined ramp as shown in the figure 2 below and marked the location
at which we release the steel ball.

2. Created a plumb line by attaching a monofilament line and holding the

meterstick to the edge of the table and marked the spot at which the plumb line
touches the ground.

3. Laid down a runway of carbon and white papers. When the steel ball hits the
carbon paper, the force will transfer some of the ink to the underlay white paper
and allowed us to pin point where the contact was first made.
 GENERAL PHYSICS PROJECTILE MOTION LAB. REPORT

4. We started the experiment by releasing the steel ball at the marked point on the
ramp.

5. Measured the horizontal distance travelled from the plumb line to the first mark
made and recorded the value in the data table.

Steps 4 and 5 were repeated for different release heights and we recorded the
obtained values in the data table.

Data table:

The table shown below shows the raw data collected which includes the

following parameters.

Height of the table (Y)(cm) = 78

 GENERAL PHYSICS PROJECTILE MOTION LAB. REPORT

Actual horizontal distance

Trial Release height in (cm) travelled by the steel
ball(x) in (cm)
3 10 43
2 20 69
4 30 75

Data analysis:

The table below shows the predicted value of the horizontal distance travelled
(Xp = R) by the steel ball and the percentage error which are calculated from the
collected data.

Trial Release Actual horizontal Predicted Percentage

number height in distance travelled by horizontal error (%)
(cm) the steel ball (x) in distance (Xp=R)
(cm) by (cm)
3 10 43 47.21 8.92
2 20 69 66.76 3.35
4 30 75 81.77 8.28

Horizontal distance travelled by the steel ball (Xp=R) = √(20hY/7)

Y = 78 cm = 0.78 m

h1 = 0.1m

h2 = 0.2m
 GENERAL PHYSICS PROJECTILE MOTION LAB. REPORT

h3 = 0.3m

By substituting the heights(h) in the equation above we calculated the predicted

horizontal distance travelled by the steel ball.

R1 = √ [(20×0.78×0.1) ÷7] m = 0.4721 m = 47.21×10-²m

R2 = √ [(20×0.78×0.2) ÷7] m = 0.6676 m = 66.76×10-²m

R3 = √ [(20×0.78×0.3) ÷7] m = 0.8177 m = 81.77×10-²m

Percentage error = [(actual range - predicted range) ×100%] ÷ actual range

% Error 1 = (|47.21 – 43|×100%) ÷47.21 = 8.92%

% Error 2 = (|66.76 – 69|×100%) ÷66.76 = 3.35%

% Error 3 = (|81.77 – 75|×100%) ÷81.77 = 8.28%

Questions and Discussions:

Discuss what the possible source of errors could have produced the deviation
above?

On doing this experiment we’ve faced errors such as personal & random errors.
Some of the possible source of errors that have produced the deviation seen above
were the presence of air resistance which affects the range and the second one is
the bouncing of the ball at the moment of the initial projection. By repeating to
release the ball slowly we tried to reduce the errors. In addition, by taking as much
as possible precise measurement we have tried to minimize the errors caused
during the experiment.
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If air resistance were not present, would the steel ball land farther or closer to the
table? Explain why?

As a projectile move through the air it is slowed down by air resistance. Air
resistance will decrease or retard the horizontal component of projectile. It’s
considered as a frictional force that slows down the motion of objects travelling
through air. Even if its effect is very small, it’s needed to be considered. If air
resistance were not present, the motion will remain with the same horizontal
velocity but will have a velocity change in the vertical direction due to gravity. In
our experiment the steel ball would land farther from the table.

Conclusion;

In conclusion, projectile travel with a parabolic trajectory due to the fact that the
downward force of gravity accelerates them downward from their otherwise
straight-line, gravity free trajectory.

And we can also conclude that when the height of the ramp from the table
increases the horizontal range also increases.

References

* Addis Ababa Science and Technology University, Physics Department, General

Physics (Phy1011), Mechanics Laboratory Manual.
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* Griffith W. Thomas, "The Physics of Everyday Phenomena: A Conceptual

Introduction to Physics," New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, vol. 4, 2001.

* Serway, R. A. and Vuille, C., 2018, College Physics, 11th ed., Cengage
Learning, Boston, USA