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    EXPERIMENT 3 Projectile Motion

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    DAVIES TEMBO
    This experiment aims to verify the theory of projectile motion. A steel sphere is released from various heights h on an inclined ramp. The distance x that the sphere travels before hitting the ground is measured and recorded. This is repeated for different heights h. The experimental values of x are then compared to theoretical values calculated using equations of motion based on conservation of energy principles to verify the theory.

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    EXPERIMENT 3 Projectile Motion

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    DAVIES TEMBO
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    This experiment aims to verify the theory of projectile motion. A steel sphere is released from various heights h on an inclined ramp. The distance x that the sphere travels before hitting the ground is measured and recorded. This is repeated for different heights h. The experimental values of x are then compared to theoretical values calculated using equations of motion based on conservation of energy principles to verify the theory.

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    This experiment aims to verify the theory of projectile motion. A steel sphere is released from various heights h on an inclined ramp. The distance x that the sphere travels before hitting the ground is measured and recorded. This is repeated for different heights h. The experimental values of x are then compared to theoretical values calculated using equations of motion based on conservation of energy principles to verify the theory.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    16 views3 pages

    EXPERIMENT 3 Projectile Motion

    Uploaded by

    DAVIES TEMBO
    This experiment aims to verify the theory of projectile motion. A steel sphere is released from various heights h on an inclined ramp. The distance x that the sphere travels before hitting the ground is measured and recorded. This is repeated for different heights h. The experimental values of x are then compared to theoretical values calculated using equations of motion based on conservation of energy principles to verify the theory.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 3

    EXPERIMENT 3: PROJECTILE MOTION

    3.1. OBJECTIVE
    To verify the theory of projectile motion

    3.2. APPARATUS
    Steel sphere, carbon paper, plain white paper, paper clip, meter ruler, beam balance, ramped track.

    3.3. THEORY

    Newton’s first law of motion requires that an object remains in its state of motion (with constant velocity)
    or at rest until an external unbalanced force act on it.
    In nature, energy is one of the few physical quantities that are conserved. The law of conservation of
    energy states that in any process, total energy is conserved. It turns out that there are two major types of
    energy, namely, kinetic energy (KE) and potential energy (PE). Kinetic energy is the energy associated
    with an object’s motion, and is given by equation 1,

    ……………….1

    where is the object’s mass and is its velocity. Potential energy is the energy possessed by an object
    by virtue of its position in space or condition. An object which is at a height ℎ with respect to the ‘ground’
    level is said to have gravitational potential energy,
    …………………….2
    The sum of the potential energy and kinetic energy is called the mechanical energy, i.e
    …………… 3
    In addition to mechanical energy, there might be energy that is transferred via the work done by non-
    conservative forces (Wnc). Thus the law of conservation can be written as,

    ………………4

    Assuming that there are no dissipative forces (i.e., friction is negligible), 𝑛𝑐 =0, so that the principle of
    conservation becomes,

    …………………..5
    Or

    …………….6

    Consider a sphere of mass released from rest at a height 𝑦=ℎ in such a way that it can slide down a
    frictionless ramp, as shown in Figure 1 below.

    Figure 1

    By using the principle of conservation of energy, it can be shown that the velocity of the sphere at the
    bottom of the incline (point O) is,

    √ ………………….7

    If this value is taken as the initial velocity of the projectile 0, then one can show that the sphere would
    touch the ground at a distance 𝑥 (see diagram) given by

    𝑥 = 2√ ………………………8
    3.4. PROCEDURE

    1. Place a white sheet of plain paper between the points A and B on the system provided.
    On top of the paper, put a piece of carbon paper and fasten it securely with a paper clip.
    2. Measure and record the distance on the system.
    3. Measure the height ℎ at which the metal sphere is placed before release and record the
    value in a table such as the one shown (Table 1).
    4. Release the sphere and take note of the distance 𝑥 from the base of the system to the point
    at which the ball touches the ground. You can identify this point by the mark the ball leaves on
    the plain piece of paper via the carbon paper.
    5. Repeat steps 1-4 for different values of ℎ (making sure that at each trial you change the
    plain sheet of paper used). Record your readings in the table.
    6. Compare the values obtained experimentally with those calculated theoretically.
    Table 1:

    Trial No. h (cm) x (cm)

    Table 2

    Trial No. xexp (cm) xt (cm)

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