CannonballExperiment

CameronAitchison,DavidSchreiber

Purpose:
Toidentifytherangeofaprojectilewhenfiredabovethehorizontalaxiswithoutusingatimer.

Thecannonballexperimentlabrequiresknowledgeon2DimensionalKinematics.
Kinematicsisabranchofclassicalmechanics,orNewtonianmechanics,whichdescribesthe
motionofobjects.Kinematicsisoftenreferredtoasthegeometryofmotion.(Hibbeler,2010)In
thisexperiment,only2Dkinematicsareneededduetothefactthatitisonlyaccountingonthe
x and y componentsoftheprojectile.Thefollowingthreeequationsdescribesthemotionof
objects,calledtheKinematicsEquations:
v = vo + at
x = xo + vot + 12at2
v2 = vo2 + 2a(x)
Thesethreeequationscanbemanipulatedasneededtosolveforalmostanysituationinvolving
themotionofobjects.Forthecurrentexperiment,sinceitisinvolvingboththe x and y axis,the
equationswillhavetobeseparatedintodistinctaxes,meaningthatdataonthe y axiscannot
beintertwinedwithdataonthe x axis.Theonlyvariablewhichcaninterminglebetweenboth
axesis t ,ortime,meaningitisauniversalconstant.Onthe x axisofthisexperiment,thereisa
constantvelocity( v ),where vo = v meaningthereisnoaccelerationalongthe x axis,allowing
theuseoftheequation v = x
t .Meanwhile,the y axisdoesnothaveaconstantvelocity.Itis
changingatarateof g ,or 9.8m/s2 inthedownwardsdirection,asusedintheexperiment
calculations.Thisvalueof g istheacceleration,or a ,usedinthekinematicsequationonlyon
the y axis.Possiblesafetyconcernsinthisexperimentisgettinghitbythecannonball,besure
tonotstandinfrontorlookintothebarrelofthecannon.Thefollowingdatawascollected
duringtheexperiment:

Trial1

Trial2

Trial3

Trial4

Trial5

Average

Angle1
(0)
Distance
(x)

1.350m

1.350m

1.355m

1.360m

1.375m

1.358m

Angle2
(20)
Distance
(x)

1.688m

1.688m

1.689m

1.689m

1.692m

1.689m

Angle1(0)

Angle2(20)

Initialheight

.83m

.85m

Materials:
MeterStick
SpringCannon
CannonPlunger
BallBearing
CarbonPaper
NotebookPaper
MaskingTape
CClamp
Procedure:
Startbysettingupaspringcannon h abovethegroundmeasuringwithameterstick.
UseaCClamptokeepthespringcannoninasteadynonmovingcondition.Setthefirstangle
ofthespringcannonto0.Placenotebookpaperonthegroundwhereitisexpectedtolandand
placemaskingtapetotapeittotheground,thenplacecarbonpaperontopofittomeasure
wheretheballstrikes.Loadaballbearingintothespringcannonusingacannonplunger,then
firethespringcannonandmeasurewheretheballhits.Repeatthisstep5times,collecting5
different x values.Nowsettheangleofthespringcannonto20,notethatthe h valuemay
changeinthisstepsinceitisnowhigherthanwhereitwasat0.Movethepaperandcarbon
papertothenewexpectedrangeandhaveitsettorecordwheretheballstrikes.Loadtheball
bearingintothespringcannonusingtheplungeragainandfire5times,collecting5different x
values.Recordthedataandcalculatetheaveragerangeofthefirstangleandtheaverage
rangeofthesecondangle.

Results/Data:
0Calculations

y = 12at2 vy = voy + at vx =

x
t

.83 = 12( 9.8)t2 vy = 0 + ( 9.8)(.41) vx =

1.358
.41

v =

2
2
x + vy

v = 3.312 + 4.02

t = .41s vy = 4.0m/s vx = 3.31m/s v = 5.21m/s

20Calculations
y = yo + vot + 12at2 vy = voy + at vx =

x
t

.85 = 0 + 0 + 12( 9.8)t2 vy = 0 + ( 9.8)(.42) vx =

v =

1.689
.42

2
2
x + vy

v = 4.022 + 4.122

t = .42s vy = 4.12m/s vx = 4.02m/s v = 5.75m/s

PercentError: |1.688 1.688| /1.688 * 100 = 100%correct

Conclusion:Therangeofaballbearingabovethehorizontalaxiswassuccessfullycalculated,
firingfromaspringcannon.Thisisprovenbythecalculationsandmeasurementsmatchingup.
Whiletheaveragedistancemeasuredfromthe5trialsat20was1.688m,thetheoretical
distancewas1.688m.Thisshowsthatthecalculationswerealmostexactly100%correct.
Somethingthatwaslearnedfromthislabwasarealworldexperienceofusing2DKinematics
tocalculateanunknownvariablefromlimitedothervariables.Theskillsusedandlearnedinthis
labcouldhelpinrealworldsituationsrequiringcalculationsofmovingobjects,likeanythingfrom
identifyingtherangeofacannonballfiredfromacannon,toagolfballbeinghitoffacliff.Some
errorsintheexperimentcouldhavebeeninthecrudenessofthetoolsusedtotake
measurements.Allmeasurementsweretakenbyeyefromameterstick.Thepercenterrorcould
havebeenlowered(eventhoughits100%accurate)byusingabalanceandaguidinglightto
takethemeasurements.

References:

Hibbeler,R.(2010).EngineeringMechanics:Dynamics.Retrievedfrom
https://books.google.com/books?id=tOFRjXBXvMC&pg=PA298

DiscussionQuestions:
1. Didtheheightoftheballchangewhentheanglewasadjustedonthelauncher?The
heightoftheballwentup,duetothelargerangleofelevationcausingthelaunchertobe
pointedhigher.Thelaunchheightalongwiththeangleofelevationincreased.
2. Iftherewasachangeininitialheight,howwouldthishavechangedyourpredicted
rangeandwhy?Knowingthata45angleofelevationwillhavethefurthestrangeforfiring
aprojectile,wecanpredictthatraisingtheinitiallaunchheightiscausedbyanangleof
elevationincrease,andthatthis,beingincreasedto45willhaveanincreasedlaunchrange.
Alsothateverydegreepast45willhaveashorterlaunchrange.Thisisduetothefactthat
at45thehorizontalandverticalvelocitiesofthelaunchcontradicteachothertheleastand
maximizevelocityalongasinglevector.