Ballistic Pendulum 3

Post lab questions:

Initiative:

In my opinion, the kinematics experiment provides a more accurate data than the pendulum does. One possibility involves the distance being measured. In the kinematics experiment, a projectile is launched several meters from its source. The point of impact is then measured from the launch point. The pendulum experiment however involves measuring the difference in height of the center of mass of a pendulum. The heights measured are really small, and are only a fraction of that length. One additional possibility is in the pendulum experiments, as we tried 5 times, the ball always bounced off and did not completely attached to the pendulum bob. This will cause the error in the total mass after the collision, thus, lead to an error in the final velocity. 

Ballistic Pendulum 2

Observation: 

• Experiment 1: As the ball is fired from the gun, it will hit the pendulum bob and causes the pendulum bob rise a height h. By measuring the height h the pendulum bob rises, I can calculate the initial velocity of the ball before the collision.

• Experiment 2: As the ball is fired from the gun at height h on the table, it will travel in a projectile motion and land on a carbon paper placed on the floor. By measuring the distance that the ball travels horizontally, I can figure out the horizontal velocity of the ball.

Data: 

 Error Analysis:
The percent difference from 2 experiment is 15%. There must be, however, a possibility of human error. Perhaps we marked the wrong spot on a carbon paper during the experiment 2(lead to the wrong data in the distance the ball travels horizontally), or measured the angle inaccurately in experiment 1(lead to the wrong data in height). In addition, there will be a difference in initial velocity of these experiments because the launcher, in fact, did not launch the ball at the same velocity each time.

Ballistic Pendulum Lab 1

Procedure: 
    Part 1: Momentum and Kinetic Energy after the collision

• Measuring the masses of two bodies.
• Measuring the distance from the tabletop to the center of mass of the pendulum before collision (h1) and after collision (h2)
• Fire the steel ball (mass m) into the hollow pendulum.
• After the collision the pendulum will be brought to rest at its highest point by a set of ratchet teeth mounted on the base of instrument. Then, measure the distance, h, that the pendulum was raised (h = h2 - h1). Repeat this step 5 times and record all data. 
• Add the masses of the two bodies, then calculate the initial velocity of the projectile using the conservation of energy and conservation of momentum equations.

    Part 2: Momentum and Kinetic Energy before the collision

• Measuring the distance from the launch point to the edge of the paper (x1) and from the edge of the paper to the center of the shot distribution. (d)
• Fire the projectile across the room.
• Place a piece of carbon paper (carbon side up) on the landing spot and tape a white sheet of paper on top of the carbon.
• The ball will leave a mark when it lands. Determine the range of the projectile by measuring the location of the marks (x = x1 + d). Repeat 5 times and record all data.

Hypothesis: As after the collision, the pendulum will raise to h height. Kinetic energy will transform to potential energy. Total energy is always conserved. The momentum also is conserved.

Materials: The pendulum, launcher, carbon paper, measuring tape

Velocity and Acceleration Lab 2

Although there is a slightly different change in time, two Buggies are likely to travel with constant velocity. Blue Buggies takes little more time to reach the end. There were some unexpected errors during the: they slightly changed their direction while traveling, thus, causing a really really small acceleration. However, if the lab was performed perfectly, there would be no acceleration.
The velocity for Red Buggies is .51m/s; the velocity for Blue Buggies is .45m/s

Velocity and Acceleration Lab

Procedures: Mark every 1 meter on the floor with the measuring tape. Let 2 Dune Buggies (Red and Blue) run 7 meter total at the same time. Each time Buggies reach 1 meter, record the time. When have all of data, calculate the velocity the buggies travel during 1 meter, repeat the calculation 7 times for each buggy. Then, compare those values.

Observation: Based on the data from the lab, I think two Buggies travel with constant velocity.

 Data Table:

Vector Lab 2

When I was measuring the distance, I did it in feet. So I had to convert it to meter to meet the criteria. There must be some small error in data because I measured the long distance few times before adding them up. I think the hardest part is calculate the angle and direction of the displacement vector. Since the vector is in 3D, it is confusing to figure out the angle on the 3D graph.

1st and 2nd period:

3rd and 4th period:

5th period:

6th and 7th period:

Vector Lab

When I started this lab, I hadn't considered about 3-dimensional vector. I was surprised; it took me few minutes to choose the origin and determined the x,y,z axis. My initial thought was measuring x and y component, and then figure out displacement for each class. The material that I used to perform this lab was only a measuring tape. It was inconvenient to measure the long hallway with these measuring tape. 

Here is the data table.