Projectile Motion
Lab
Starter
What are the factors that determine the range of a thrown baseball?
Practice
Design an experiment to determine what factors
determine the following: The Range and Time of Flight of
a projectile.
Application
Use the phet simulation for projectile motion.
1. Set the velocity at 20m/s and leave it there.
2. Set the angle at 5o and shoot the projectile. Record the range
and the time in the air. Use the tape measure for the range.
3. Repeat for angles: 10o, 15o,…… 90o .
4. Plot the Range vs. angle using loggerpro. Sketch the graph in
your notebook.
4. Plot the Time of flight vs. angle. Sketch the graph in
your notebook.
USE LOGGERPRO FOR YOUR GRAPHS
Data Tables
Range vs. Angle
Angle ( Degrees)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
Time vs. Angle
Range (m)
0
Angle ( Degrees)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
Time(s)
0
Analyze
The theoretical predictions are:
Time of Flight:
T = (2vi sinq) /g
Range:
R= vi 2sin (2q)/ g
Use the curve fit option in Loggerpro to fit your graphs.
For each graph, comment on the relationship between the fit and
the theoretical prediction.
QUESTIONS
If you doubled a projectile’s
velocity, what would the
effect be on :
1. the time of flight
2.the range
Lab Report Checklist
1. Starter
2. Data tables
3. Two sketched
graphs.
4. Curve fit equations.
5. Questions
6. Summary