Rockets Projectile Lab

Introduction
The purpose of this lab was to examine projectile motion using foam rockets and to see if it is possible to estimate
a horizontal displacement. Since projectile motion always takes place in 2 dimensions, this lab report calculates the
required information in one direction first, figure out the unknown, apply the information to the other direction and figure
out the actual horizontal displacement. All of this was done neglecting the wind resistance. After conducting the
experiment, the results show that the prediction of the horizontal displacement of the rocket was almost accurate. The
velocity in the vertical direction is calculated using Equation 1 and since the time is measured using a timer, it is not
required. Equation 2 is then used to calculate the velocity in the horizontal direction.
Equation 1- Vertical Direction Velocity
d v1t

1 2
at
2

Equation 2- Horizontal Direction Velocity

d vt
Hypothesis
Projectiles are known as an object with only the force of gravity acting upon it. 1 This gravity is the only reason
the object accelerates in the vertical direction and since there are no horizontal forces acting upon the object, the motion in
the horizontal direction is constant.1 When the object is launched on an angle, there is velocity in both directions and to
calculate it trigonometric ratios are needed. 2 All of this information can be used to predict and calculate the horizontal
displacement of the object which in this case is a model rocket.
Procedure
Part 1 :
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

The rocket was set up as shown in Figure 1

The rocket was launched from the pad using pressurized air
The time from when the rocket took off until when the rocket landed was recorded using a timer.
The displacement of the rocket was approximately measured using human paces.
These values were then used to calculate the velocity in the vertical direction using Equation 1

Figure 1 Vertical Direction Model Rocket Setup

Part 2:
1. The rocket was set up on a 30 angle as shown in Figure 2
2. An estimation of the horizontal displacement was made using the average times and distance of the rocket in the
vertical direction
3. A runner them measured the approximate displacement in human paces
4. The actual distance of the rocket after landing was measured also in human paces

Figure 2 Rockets on a 30 angle

Observation
Table 1 includes the measured information required for calculating velocity in the vertical direction. The time was
found by taking the average time of three trials from the average of three timers.
Table 1 Vertical Velocity Measurements
Trial
Number
1
2
3

Timer 1- Anika (s)

8.03
7.20
7.41

Table 2- Distance walked

Length of Pace
Bayezin (m)
Bheesham
(m)
Myron (m)

Timer 2- Danielle (s)

Timer 3- Vinita (s)

8.01
_______
7.16
6.0
6.96
6.87
Average Time of all Trials

0.7
0.7

Adjustment due to
wind resistance
70 paces
20 paces

0.7

40 paces

Average Time (s)

8.02
6.79
7.08
7.3

Analysis
The average time of all trials in the vertical direction found in Table 1 and the displacement being 0 since the
rocket returned to the ground, were used to calculate the velocity in the vertical direction. A sample calculation of this can
be found in Appendix A.
The second part of this experiment was the rocket on a 30 angle. The velocity from the vertical direction was
applied to the components of the velocity on an angle to find the velocity in the horizontal direction not taking wind

resistance into accommodation. This velocity was then multiplied by the average time to get the actual horizontal
displacement. All of these calculations can be found in Appendix A as well. The distance of the rocket turned out to be
112.61 m and our estimate using human paces was about 113. This is fairly accurate but gives us a percent error of 0.79%.
The calculation for percent error can also be found in Appendix A.
Conclusion
In the end, our estimation of the horizontal displacement which was measured by walkers taking steps almost
matched where the rocket landed. The actual horizontal displacement was calculated to be 112.61 m while our estimation
was 113. Although our guess was pretty close to the actual result, there is a small percent error and the reason for this is
that there were many experimental and human errors that affected the results.
One major error that contributed to inaccurate results was the fact that the human paces were all different sizes
and was not accurately measured with a ruler or measuring device. This may have affected our results by increasing the
prediction or decreasing the predicted displacement. If this experiment was to be conducted again, a proper metre stick
should be used to actually measure the distance that the rocket landed at while on an angle as well as the measurement of
human paces.
Another error that affected the results was the fact that wind resistance was not taken into consideration when
launching the rocket. Since the rocket is very light, the wind could have easily changed the rockets direction, speed or
final displacement. An anemometer can be used next time to calculate the wind speed beforehand and this way there will
be less error.3
For part two of the experiment, the rocket had to be taped down and positioned before launching on the 30 angle.
This may be a part of the reason why there is some error with this experiment. By holding down and taping the rocket
with tape that wasnt stable enough, the rocket could have moved slightly and changed the angle of the launch thus
affecting the horizontal displacement in the end. In the future, if this experiment is to be done again, the rocket should be
stuck at 30 with something more stable that will not allow the rocket to move creating more accurate results.
One other experimental error in this projectiles experiment is

Even though there are many factors that have affected the results of the rocket, our prediction very close to being
accurate.

End Notes

"What Is a Projectile?" The Physics Classroom. 2010. Web.

<http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/vectors/u3l2a.cfm>.
1

"Projectiles Launched at an Angle." Web.

<http://homepage.usask.ca/~dln136/projectile/pages/module5.html>.
3

"Anemometer." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 2010. Web.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anemometer>.