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Projectile Lab Report

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Projectile 2 Lab Report
Kelsy Ecclesiastre and Sara Lopez
AP Physics 1
Period 6
Objective/Purpose:
To correctly identify the range of a projectile when fired above the horizontal axis with only a meter stick (i.e. no timer).
Background:
According to Henderson, speed is how far an object travels during a specific amount of time and does not include the direction. Velocity can be explained as the speed of an object, but also including the direction the object is heading towards (Henderson, 2015).
Giancoli states that the velocity of an object is taken with the magnitude- the numerical value- and the direction of the object (Giancoli, 2009). Therefore, with these two qualities, velocity can be illustrated as a vector.
Acceleration occurs when …show more content…

The average distance was 1.27 meters (Data Table 1).The marble was also launched at an angle of 25 degrees and a height of 1.05 meters. The average distance was 1.46 meters (Data Table 2). The marble took .452 seconds to hit the ground (Figure 1). The marble had an average velocity of 2.82 m/s (Figure 2). A triangle was drawn with a magnitude of 2.82 m/s. The x and y components of the triangle were calculated. The x component was 2.56 m/s and the y component was 1.19 m/s (Figure 3). The expected distance that the marble was supposed to travel during the experiment was calculated. The expected distance was 1.54 meters (Figure 4). The percent error of the average distance of the marble compared to the expected distance of the marble was 5.19% (Figure 5).
From doing this lab, it was learned that the time, average velocity, and expected distance can be calculated with only the average distance, height, and an angle are given. In real life, many objects are launched using a projectile launcher. If someone wants to calculate the time it takes the marble to hit the ground and the average velocity, they can do this with only knowing the height of the launcher, the distance traveled by the marble, and the angle at which the marble was launched …show more content…

After performing more than five trials, choose the five closest points on the paper and find the average of those five points. At least ten trials could be performed if the lab was being repeated.
References:
Elert, G. (2015). Acceleration. Retrieved August 25, 2015, from http://physics.info/acceleration/
Giancoli, D. (2009). Physics: Principles with Applications. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Heald, J. (2015). What is Acceleration? – Definition and Formula. Retrieved August 23, 2015, from http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-acceleration-definition-and-formula.html
Henderson, T. (2015). Speed and Velocity. Retrieved September 6, 2015, from http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/1DKin/Lesson-1/Speed-and-Velocity
Lucas, J. (2014, June 26). Force, Mass & Acceleration: Newton’s Second Law of Motion. Retrieved August 25, 2015 from

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