Experimental Design!
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Name: JJ Coughran
Date: _____________ Period:
Design and conduct your own experiments with projectiles!
Log onto http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/sims.php?sim=Projectile_Motion *Press RUN NOW
button.
1) Write your best understanding of the word projectile:
A missile designed to be shot through the air by a rocket or gun.
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2) Name all of the factors you think affect projectile movement (try to list at least five
factors):
- Air resistance
- Velocity
- Acceleration
- Mass
- Angle
- Height
- Speed
Experiment 1:
3) With your lab partner, choose one of the factors you’ve just listed above and propose a
question to test that factor. Your goal is to hit the target!
a) Factor: ____Initial Speed___________
b) Question:
___Does the projectile get shot out farther with a larger initial speed ?
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4) Write your hypothesis regarding how the factor you’ve chosen will affect your ability to hit
the target (If…then…because):
_The larger the initial speed the farther the projectile will go and the smaller it is the less
far it will go.
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5) What is your test variable? _______10 m/s ____________ Outcome variable?
________________10.5 m/s _________
6) What variables should you keep constant?
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7) Once you have put all variables in place, fire away! Did you hit your target? Write a
conclusion statement explaining your results.
__Yes, I did hit the target at 11m/s and 10m/s however I was not able to hit the bullseye
for 3 stars. So I estimated that 10.5m/s would hit bullseye because 10 was a little too short
and 11 was a little too far so 10.5 should be perfect.
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Experiment 2:
1) With your lab partner, choose a different factor than the one above and propose a question
to test that factor. Your goal is to hit the target!
a) Factor: ____angle measure___________
b) Question:
_____Does the angle measure affect the distance of the projectile being shot.
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2) Write your hypothesis regarding how the factor you’ve chosen will affect your ability to hit
the target (If…then…because):
__I believe that angle measures very high and very low will be shot not as far and an angle
right in the middle will be shot farther.
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3) What is your test variable? _______35 degrees _____________ Outcome variable?
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4) What variables should you keep constant? _______________Height_and initial speed
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5) Once you have put all variables in place, fire away! Did you hit your target? Write a
conclusion statement explaining your results.
__I did hit the target, however the target was not far enough for the angle measure to be
very high so my hypothesis was correct in the fact that 45 degrees would go the farthest
however 5 degrees was the angle measure that hit the bullseye in the target.
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Experiment 3:
1) With your lab partner, choose a different factor than the one above and propose a question
to test that factor. Your goal is to hit the target!
a) Factor: height _________
b) Question:
_____Does height affect the distance of how far the ball is shot out of the spring?
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2) Write your hypothesis regarding how the factor you’ve chosen will affect your ability to hit
the target (If…then…because):
____I believe that the higher the cannon is elevated the farther the ball will travel.
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3) What is your test variable? height ___________ Outcome variable?
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4) What variables should you keep constant? speed and angle measure
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5) Once you have put all variables in place, fire away! Did you hit your target? Write a
conclusion statement explaining your results.
__Yes, I did hit the target and my hypothesis was correct about if the height of the cannon
would increase the distance of the rubber ball.
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Which factor appears most important in projectile motion? Explain your answer!
Height, Initial speed, angle measure of where it is shot from re the most
important factors in projectile motion because those factors appear the most
so in that case it would affect the most problems.