SCIENCE DEPARTMENT

Projectile motion

Names:_________________________________________________________________

COMPETENCE 1. INQUIRES USING SCIENTIFIC METHODS TO BUILD KNOWLEDGE

You will investigate the two dimensional motion of a projectile. The projectile is a small
marble. Your hand-made toy catapult launches the marble into the air. With the help of a
camera, you will capture the motion of the ball on film. The total flight time, the angle θ and
the maximum horizontal distance are the “raw data” of your experiment.

Figure 1. Experimental setup.

To simplify the work, assume that the ball is thrown very close to the floor ( d 0 ≈ 0 ¿. The
acceleration of gravity only affects the vertical axis ( g y =−9.8 m/s 2).

OBJECTIVE:

Determine the x and y components of the initial velocity ( vix and viy ) and the maximum
height d y max of the projectile motion.

DATA ACQUISITION:

Step 1. Setup your catapult according to the experimental setup (See Figure 1).
Step 2. Prepare a camera and a timer to record the motion. Are you ready? Before you
throw the ball, measure the firing angle θ . Synchronize the launching with your timer
counting or video recording.
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Step 3. With a ruler measure the horizontal distance reached by the object. Check in the
timer or the recording the total flight time measured (the time starts when the object leaves
the catapult and finish when the object hits the ground).

Take notes of your measurements:

Angle θ

Total flight time (t tot )

Maximum horizontal distance (d x max ⁡¿ ,

ANALYSIS:

Use the equations below to work out the initial velocity and the maximum height.

1 2
(1) d=v i t+ g t
2

(2)

(3)

The variables are: distance (d ¿, time (t) , acceleration of gravity (g), final velocity ( v ) and
initial velocity (v¿ ¿i)¿ .

Hint #1: The maximum height occurs at half the total flight time when the vertical speed
component is zero.

Calculate d y max

Use the following equations:

v y =v iy +g y t

2 2
( v y ) =( v iy ) +2 g y d y

Use equation: Calculate viy

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1 2
d y =v iy t+ g y t
2

Hint #2: The maximum horizontal distance occurs at the total flight time.

Calculate vix

Use equation:
1 2
d x =v ix t + g x t
2

CONCLUSIONS: Write your conclusion to this lab with your own words. Include anything

you have learned from the lab.

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