Projectile Motion

Projectile Motion
Object:
Today we will examine motion in two dimensions through the analysis of a projectile fired
through the air. We will use our theoretical kinematic equations to predict the range of a projectile and
then verify this range experimentally.

Reference: Chapter 4 in Resnick & Halliday.

Apparatus:
1. Meter Stick
2. Stopwatch
3. PASCO ME-6825 Mini Launcher
4. Metal Ball
5. Carbon Paper

Introduction:

The motion of projectiles had long been a puzzle to the founders of our modern theories of
motion. Aristotle could find no explanation for projectiles according to his natural and violent types of
forces and motion. For example, once an arrow leaves a bow, there is no other source for the movement.
Aristotle had to “create” a mover for the arrow. He suggested that the air surrounding the arrow was the
source of movement. As the arrow passed through the air it pushed the air in front of it aside and created
a vacuum behind it. As the air rushed to fill the vacuum behind the arrow (because Aristotle and others
of the time correctly assumed that nature abhors a vacuum), the air pushed the arrow forward. Well, this
was really stretching for an answer. Even some of Aristotle’s most ardent supports believed that this was
a shaky explanation for what it going on, but they didn’t have any better explanations.

During the medieval days, this motion was attributed directly to the arrow (or other projectile)
itself in an internal force called “impetus.” It was believed, for example, that a bow would give the
arrow a certain amount of impetus that would propel the arrow forward. Once the arrow ran out of its
impetus, then it would fall back to earth.

The renaissance brought closer inspection of natural phenomena in artists’ attempts to more
accurately reproduce images and frescos of the world around them. It was found that this idea of
impetus wasn’t very accurate in describing the actual observed motion. The advent of cannon warfare
also brought about a closer look at how projectiles actually moved. The idea of impetus didn’t
sufficiently explain the motion of cannonballs….which, in turn, didn’t hit their mark correctly based on
this theory!!

Well, along comes the 17th century and our good friend Galileo. Using his trusty inclined ramps,
he furthered his experiments on acceleration with a study of projectile motion. He rolled ink covered
balls down the ramps such that they would acquire different speeds when they reached the table top. He
then allowed the inked balls to roll off the table top and leave a small mark on the floor where they hit.

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 Projectile Motion

Knowing the speed of the balls and the distance above the ground of the table top, Galileo was
able to correctly predict where the balls would land. Figure 1 shows a page from Galileo’s notebook on
projectile motion.

Galileo correctly understood that

projectile motion could easily be explained with
inertia. He saw that a projectile followed two
separate, but related motions. One was
horizontal, and the other vertical. Each motion
goes about its business as if the other were not
present at all…but the two are related by the
duration of time for which each motion occurs.
As the cannonball moves upward and back
downward from a cannon, it spends some
duration of time in the air, let’s call it t. Well, the
horizontal motion can only happen for this same
duration of time. Once the cannonball hits the
ground, thereby ending its vertical motion, the Figure 1: A page from Galileo’s notbook on
cannonball must also stop its horizontal motion. experiments with projectile motion.

In Galileo’s experiments, the balls leave the tabletop with some forward inertia, but no
downward inertia. Thus, once they leave, they fall in a vertical direction as if dropped from the top of a
tower (such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa for example!!) All the while they are falling, they are
continuing their forward motion. The path that they follow is a parabola. This is the same motion
followed by a tossed ball on a bus. As you sit in the bus seat and toss a ball up and down, you see a one-
dimensional motion (vertical.) But an observer standing on the side of the road will see the bus moving
forward (assume a constant speed) while the ball goes up and down. The combination of these two
motions is again a parabola. In fact, all projectiles (in the absence of air friction) follow parabolic paths.

Since there are no forces causing any change in motion in the forward (horizontal) direction, we
must have:

x = xo + vx t

But our motion in the vertical direction does have a force acting, the force of gravity. Thus:

y = y o + v y1 t + 12 ay t 2
y = y o − 12 gt 2

In this experiment we will conduct a version of Galileo’s experiment and hopefully reproduce his
results!!

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 Projectile Motion

Procedure:

You have been provided with the following equipment:

a small metal ball, a PASCO mini-launcher, a meter stick, a
stopwatch and some carbon paper. The idea is to place the
carbon paper over a piece of regular paper on the table at the ΔX

point where the small metal ball will hit the floor. You are to X
mark the regular paper with a line at the spot where you expect
ΔX
the ball to hit. Using your knowledge of how errors propagate
through simple calculations, you should add error bars on the
paper as shown in the picture to the right. The projected ball X
will soar through the air and land on the paper (hopefully) and
perhaps even hit the line.

It is up to you to determine how to use this equipment

to accomplish this task. We have covered projectile motion in
class, so use your class notes, textbook and minds to determine Figure 2: Top view of the projectile
the best way to accurately predict the target spot. Remember, motion experiment.
in this experiment it is accuracy that matters….not precision.
(What is the difference?) For example, if you are air-dropping supplies to a person standing on the
ground, you had better hope your calculations are correct. A slight miscalculation could squash your
friend on the ground (and then you’ve gone and wasted all those supplies you just shoved out of your
plane!!) And I don’t think I even need to explain the importance in military bombing exercises.

A couple hints. First, you need to know the speed with which the ball is launched from the mini
launcher. This is best accomplished by eliminating one of the unknowns (eliminate one of the
dimensions and you have successfully eliminated an unknown! If you are completely lost, your
instructor could perhaps give you a hint.) Once you know that speed, you can proceed with a horizontal
launch off the tabletop similar to Galileo’s experiment.

Make your prediction of the horizontal range X. Include the estimated error of the prediction
expressing the predicted range in the form X ± ΔX where ΔX is the estimated error. You may want to go
back to the first lab to recall the propagation of errors through your calculations.

Place your piece of paper on the floor at a distance X from the launch point with lines drawn at
the ± ΔX positions as shown in the top view of the experiment to the right.

Oh, did I forget to mention, you are only allowed to launch the ball AFTER you have made
the prediction and taped your paper to the floor (no ‘test runs!!) When you are ready to launch,
call your instructor over and let him or her observe the first launch. Any test runs will result in a
lowering of your lab grade by one letter grade per test run. Repeat the launch two more times for a total
of three launches.

Note: Use the plastic tube plunger to set the launcher, and do not set the spring beyond the
FIRST click. And ALWAYS wear the safety goggles when operating the launchers!

MMWaite 3 Monday, August 4, 2008