Project+Template

Names: Sanjo Abraham, Trevor Cernek

Title: Projectile Launching

Lab goal/question: To find what effects knocking something over more force or mass and does distance prove to be a factor if you move the block away from the launcher and finally would an angle introduced to the experiment cause any changes?

Procedure: 1. Get diverse materials to launch out of the launcher (marbles of different sizes). 2. Choose an object to knock over. 3. Mass the objects used in the experiment. 4. To find the force the object will exert make the launched object collide with a force sensor 5. Set the launcher at a short distance away from block. 6. Launch the object and see if the object knocks over a wooden block. 7. Keep launching object with more force (if necesary) until the block falls over. 8. Record the results when the block is knocked over. 9. Switch step 5 to moving the block further away from the launcher. 10.Repeat steps 6-7 11.Record results when the block falls over.

Data/calculations:

Object to be knocked over= 500G metal block

Small marble: mass= 5 G force (when using three clicks on launcher)= -11.55 N

Large marble: mass= 9 G force (when using one click)= 4.55 N to find the forces behind these objects use a force sensor a dixie cup a wood popsicle stick a launcher and tape. 1. tape the wooden stick to the bottom of the cup. 2. position the force sensor directly behind the cup the probe touching the bottom of the cup. 3. load the marble into the launcher (depending on the size small gets three clicks and large gets one click find a suitable force). 4. launch the marble into the cup record the force given.

Small marble (big force)
 * Initial Force (N) || Distance from target (CM) || Result ||
 * 11.55 || 12 || Successfully knocks over the block ||
 * 11.55 || 24 || Caused the block to rock but not fall ||
 * 11.55 || 36 || Caused the block to move very slightly but not fall ||
 * 11.55 || 48 || Bounces of the block and the block is not moved nor knocked over ||

Large marble (small force)


 * Initial Force (N) || Distance (CM) || Result ||
 * 4.55 || 12 || The block rocks but does not fall ||
 * 4.55 || 24 || The block rocks but does not fall ||
 * 4.55 || 36 || The block is moved but does not fall ||
 * 4.55 || 48 || The block is barely moved but does not fall ||

Secondary experiment with introduced angle: (Using the same materials)

Procedure: 1. Mount the projectile laucher about 4 cm above the ground, and have it at 15 degrees 2. fire marble at 500G mass object Small marble (big force) Large marble (small force) Reflection/conclusion: Newton's third law states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In this experiment we decided to answer the question, what effects knocking an object over more force or mass? Well because of Newtons third law then the more force used on the launched projectile the same force will be felt by the knocked over object. In the experiment we used a small mass combined with a large force and a large mass with a small force. In the above trials and tables one and two we have come to the conclusion that force will influence an object knocking over another object more than mass would. In our first trials we used a projectile launcher, 2 marbles, and a metal block and we shot the marble into the metal object. The data in table one showed that the small marble had greater success in knocking over the object than the big marble did. The reason behind this is because the small marble even though it is small had a large force that the object also experienced and the large marble although it has a big mass behind it mass does not transmit to the other object nor asist as much as force does thus the large marble struggled to knock it over. Another question we asked was, does distance prove to be a factor when knocking over the object? We proved this question by moving the block away form the launcher at increments of 12 CM in the end we concluded that distance does cause it to be harder to knock over the object. In the first two data tables it is shown that as distance increases it is increasingly difficult to knock over the block. We believe this to be true because as the marble needs to travel further to reach the object and it is affected by gravity pulling it down lower so it hits the lower base of the object thus causing the force of the marble to have to battle the force of friction so it hits its strongest point.
 * Initial Force (N) || Distance (CM) || Angle (DEGS) || Result ||
 * 11.55 || 12 || 15 || knocks it over successfully ||
 * 11.55 || 24 || 15 || knocks it over successfully ||
 * 11.55 || 36 || 15 || bounces effortlessly off the weight ||
 * Initial Force (N) || Distance (CM) || Angle (DEGS) || Result ||
 * 4.55 || 12 || 15 || it rocks the object back and forth ||
 * 4.55 || 24 || 15 || it rocks the object back and forth ||
 * 4.55 || 36 || 15 || it knocks over the weight ||

Part 2 conclusion: In this secondary experiment we decided to answer another question, would an angle added to the experiment cause a change in the success of knocking over the object? In the last experiment we found that as disatnce increased then difficulty increased to acheive knocking over the object. In this experiment we thought of an idea if we added an angle it cause the object to gain height as it travels and cause the force of gravity to pull it down and hit the top of the object. In table three and four the results are much different than the others, in the experiment the large marble hit the block over much more successfully at larger distances and the small marble hit the object over at small distances. We believe this is because the small marble traveled a much greater horizontal distance and although the vertical and horizontal are dependant of each other the longer distance caused it to hit lower on the block. Strangely enough the big marble with the small force was able to knock over the block. This is strange because something with less force should not be able to knock over something, while something with more force is not able to. We believe that this may have happened because the angle caused to it to hit at a higher spot than the small marble.