ProjectileLabAdvancedVersion

Inthislabyouwillshootachopstickacrosstheroomwitharubberbandandmeasurehow different variables affectthedistanceitflies.Youwilluseconcepts ofkineticandpotential energytounderstandhowthechopstickispropelled.

Keyconcepts:
Aprojectileisaflyingobjectgivenaninitialpush.Thedistanceaprojectiletravels dependsonhowfastitfliesandhowmuchtimeittakestohittheground. Conservationofenergy.Whenyoustretcharubberband,youstoreelasticpotential energy.Thefurtheryoustretch,themoreelasticenergyisstored.Thiscanthenbe convertedinto kineticenergy (energyassociatedwithmotion)tomakeaprojectile fly. 1 2 Thekineticenergyofanobjectofmassm,movingatvelocityvis KE = mv 2 Physicists can come up with mathematical equations to describe realworld phenomenabyusingtheconceptofproportionaltoorscalesas.Wesayxis proportionaltoy,orwrite x y ifxisequaltoytimessomeconstant.

Part1Elasticenergy
Inthisfirstpart,youwilllookathowthedistancetraveledbytheprojectileisaffectedbyhowfar backyoupulltherubberband. 1. Place a rubber band around the basket provided, as shown in the illustration below.Ononesideofthebaskettherubber band should go across the lowest row of holes.Ontheoppositesideofthebasket,it shouldgoacrossthe2ndrowofholesabove thetable.Do not readjusttherubberband afteryoustarttheexperiment. Putalittle pieceoftapeateachcornertokeepthe rubberbandinplace. 2. Puttheprojectileinthelauncherasillustrated.Theprojectileshouldgothroughthe 2ndrowofholesandbemostlyhorizontalwhenlaunched. Thetailendofyourprojectileshouldbemarkedat1cmintervals.Launchtheprojectile bypullingbacktothe2cmmark.Makesurethenoseoftheprojectileislinedupwith theedgeofthetablewhenyoulaunch.Onememberofyourgroupshouldstandtothe sideandwatchwherethetipoftheprojectilelands.

 3. Measurethehorizontaldistancefromtheedgeofthetabletowhereyourprojectile landed.Recorditinthetablebelow. 4. Repeatsteps3and4,thistimepullingbacktothe3cmand4cmmark. 5. In the last column of the table, fill in the factor change in distance flown when comparedtothe2cmdistance.Tofindthefactorchange,dividethedistancexforeach rowbythedistanceinthefirstrow. distancepulled (d) 2cm 3cm 4cm distanceflown (x) factorchange (comparedto2cmmeasurement) 1

6. Whichofthefollowingbestdescribeshowthedistanceflownbytheprojectile(x) dependsonhowfaryoustretchedtherubberband(d)? Hint:Whenyoupulledbacktwiceasfar(to4cmversus2cm),howmanytimesfurther didtheprojectilefly? (a) x (doublingthelengthpulledmakestheprojectiletraveltwiceasfar) d 2 (b) x 2(doublingthelengthpulledmakestheprojectiletravel 2 = timesasfar) 4 d (c) x d(doublinglengthpulledmakestheprojectiletravel 2 1 timesasfar) . 4 7. Usingyouranswerfrom#6,howfarwouldyouexpecttheprojectiletotravelifyou pulledtherubberbandback5cm? Predicteddistancetraveledford=5cm:x=______________ 8. Pullback5cmandmeasurehowfartheprojectileflies. Actualdistancetraveledford=5cm:x=_______________ 9. Howclosewereyou?Calculatethepercenterror:
% e r r o r = (tl a c u a -pc rie ed d) t pc rie ed d t 0 = 1 _______________ 0

ConceptQuestions:Whichofthefollowingcorrectlydescribeswhatoccurredwhenyou pulledtherubberbandbackfurthertolaunchtheprojectile?(Morethanonechoicemay becorrect!) (a) Moreelasticenergywasstoredintherubberband (b) Theprojectilehadmorekineticenergywhenitleftthelauncher (c) Theprojectiletookalongertimetohitthefloor (d) Theprojectiletookashortertimetohitthefloor (e) Theprojectilewasmovingfasterwhenitleftthelauncher
1 E d Theformulaforelasticpotentialenergyis: P = k 2 2 1 E v Theformulaforthekineticenergyofanobjectofmassmmovingatspeedvis: K = m 2 2 (kisthespringconstantthatgivestheelasticstrengthoftherubberband,dishowfartherubber bandispulledback)

Allofthekineticenergyoftheprojectilehastocomefromthestoredelasticenergyinthe rubberband(thetwoenergiesmustbeequal).Solveforthespeedoftheprojectilecoming offthelauncher(v)intermsofspringconstant(k),distancepulledback(d),andmassof projectile(m).

Whathappenstothehorizontalvelocityoftheprojectilewhenyoupulltherubberband backtwiceasfar?

Part2ProjectileMass
Inthispart,youwillinvestigatetheeffectofthemassofyourprojectileonhowfarittravels.You willuseasimplebalancetoestimatetheprojectilemassinunitsofcandy. 1. In your lab kit there should be a wooden bar with two Ziplocbaggiesattached.Usethisbalanceasshowninthe picture.Whenthemassesinthetwobaggiesarethesame, thewoodenbarshouldbehorizontal. 2. Putyourprojectileintoonebaggieonyourbalance.Ifyou holdthebalancebythecentralstring,itwilltilttowardsthe heavierend,whereyouhaveplacedtheprojectile. 3. Add clay to the other baggie until the wooden bar is horizontal when you hold the balance by the central string. Thestringsshouldlineupwiththeblacklineson thewoodenbeam.Bepreciseinyourmeasurement! 4. Addthisclaytothenoseoftheprojectile.Bywhatfactorhasthemassoftheprojectile changed? 5. CopyoveryourresultsfromPart1intothe2ndcolumnofthetablebelow.Launchthe projectileasbefore,pullingbacktothe2cmand4cmmark.Measurethedistance traveledandrecorditinthe3rdcolumn. 6. Inthelastcolumn,fillinbywhatfactorthedistancechangedwhenyoualteredthe projectilemass. Distance pulled 2cm 4cm Distancetraveled (originalprojectile) Distancetraveled (twiceasheavyprojectile) Factorchange ( c3 m ) o l u m n c2 o l u n

7. Whichofthefollowingbestdescribeshowthedistancetraveledbytheprojectile(x) dependsonthemassoftheprojectile(m)? (a) (b) (c)

xm(doublingthemassmakestheprojectiletravel2timesasfar)
1 (doublingthemassmakestheprojectiletraveltimesasfar) m (doublingmassmakesprojectiletravel 2 1 timesasfar) x m . 4 x

(d)

1 (doublingmassmakesprojectiletravel 1 2 0 timesasfar) / . 7 m

8. Howfardoyouthinkthenew,heavyprojectilewilltravelifyoupulltherubber bandtothe5cmmark?(Hint:recallwhatyoulearnedintheprevioussectionaboutthe dependenceofdistanceflownxondistancepulledbackd). Predicteddistancewhenpulling5cm:___________ 9. Placeatargetatthepredicteddistancefromthetable.Nowlaunchtheprojectileafter pullingback5cm. Didyouhitthetarget? Conceptquestions: (**)Forthosewhohavedonethegravitylab: Doesmakingtheprojectileheavierchangethetimeittakestofalltotheground?

1 E v Thedefinitionforkineticenergyis: K = m 2 2 Usingthisformulaandconservationofenergy,explainwhytheheavierprojectiledidnot flyasfar.(Hint:Didthespeedcomingoffthelauncherchange?Why?)

Part3StartingHeight
Inthispart,youwillseehowthedistancethattheprojectiletravelschangesifyouraisethe launchheight. 1. Use astackoftextbooksto maketheheightfromwhichyouareshooting 1.5 timesasbigasitwasbefore. Originalheightoftable:_______________ Newheightoftable:_________________(=original*1.5) 2. Shoottheprojectile(withthemodelingclaystillonit),asbefore,pullingbackto the2cmandthe4cmmark.Measurehowfartheprojectilefliesandfillinthefollowing table.Thelastcolumnisthefactorchangeinthedistancetraveledwhencomparingthenew andoldheight. Distancepulled 2cm 4cm Distancetraveled (originalheight, heavyprojectile) Distancetraveled (newheight, heavyprojectile) Factorchange ( c3 o l u m n

m ) c2 o l u n

3. Whichofthefollowingbestdescribeshowthedistancetraveledbytheprojectile (x)dependsonlaunchheight(h)? (a) xh (multiplyingtheheightby1.5changesdistancetraveledbyafactor1.5) (b) x 2 h (multiplyingheightby1.5changesdistancetraveledbyfactor 15 =2.25) . 2 (c) x h (multiplyingheightby1.5changesdistancetraveledbyfactor 1 =1.2) . 5 4. Usingwhatyoulearnedinpart2,howfardoyouthinktheprojectilewillflyif youlaunchfromthenewheight,takeoffthemodelingclay,andpullback4cm? Predicteddistanceforlightprojectile,tallheight,4cm:__________ Placeatargetwhereyoupredicttheprojectilewillland.Makesureyouhaveenough spacesotheprojectilewonthitanything!Testyourprediction. Didithitthetarget?

Conceptquestions: Whichofthefollowingcorrectlydescribeswhathappenswhenyouraisetheheightofthe launcher? (a) Theprojectileleavesthelauncherwithmorekineticenergy. (b) Theprojectilehasafasterhorizontalspeedwhenleavingthelauncher. (c) Theprojectiletakeslongertoreachtheground (d) Moreelasticenergyisstoredintherubberband.

Foranobjectfallingunderinfluenceofgravityalone,thedistancefallen(h)afteratimet 1 t isgivenby, h= g 2,wheregistheaccelerationofgravity.Solveforthetimetohitthe 2 floorifstartingfromatableofheighth(writeanequationfortintermsofgandh).

Whatistheequationforthedistanceflown(x)intermsoftheinitialvelocityofthe projectile(v)andtimeofflight(t)?

Puttingtheaboverelationshipstogether(solveforxintermsofg,v,h),doyouseethesame dependenceofxonhasyounoticedinyourmeasurements(ex: xhor xh2or x h)?

Wrapupquestions
1. Ifyouchangethefollowingvariables,whatwillhappentothehorizontaldistance flownbytheprojectile? (a)pulltherubberbandbackfurther increase/decrease/depends

(b)useastrongerrubberband(onethattakesmoreefforttopull) increase/decrease/depends (c)usealighterprojectile (d)launchfromalowerheight increase/decrease/depends increase/decrease/depends

(e)launchonthemoon(weakergravitythanearth) increase/decrease/depends (f)launchatanangledownwards increase/decrease/depends

(g)launchatanangleupwards increase/decrease/depends (hint:thinkaboutlaunchingataslightangleup,versuslaunchingstraightupattheceiling). 2. Give2examplesofprojectilemotionthatyouhaveseeninreallifeoronTV,and explainwheretheenergycomesfromtomaketheprojectilemove.

3.

Puttingtogetherwhatyouhavelearnedinthislababoutthedependenceofthe flight distance on different variables, which of the following best describes how the distanceflown(x)varieswithheight(h),mass(m),anddistancepulledback(d): (a) x dh m (b) x d h m (c) x d m h (d) x h d m

4.

Ifyoupulltherubberbandbacktwiceasfar,useaprojectilethatis1/3themass, andlaunchfromaheightthatishalfastall,bywhatfactorwillthedistanceflownbythe projectilechange?