Projectile Motion Lab
Introduction
The motion of a projectile is governed by the force that launches the object and the gravitational influence
on the object as it moves down range. In today’s lab, you will launch a projectile and use its flight
characteristics to measure the acceleration of gravity. Campus Students will be provided with the
materials you need to complete the lab (meter sticks, projectiles, and launchers) and a method for
recording and analyzing the motion. Online Students will access the PHET Projectile Motion simulation
provided through this link.
Part 1:
Play around with various projectiles, angles of elevation and Initial speeds (if possible).
Simulations
Click on the Intro window. Be sure the Air Resistance box is unchecked. Check the velocity vectors boxes.
Check the Acceleration Vectors box marked Components.
For one given angle and initial speed, what did you notice about the different projectiles?
For a given angle and an initial speed of 15 m/s, with the cannon at a height of 10 m, different
projectiles followed the same parabolic trajectory and had the same time of flight and range. This
confirms that, in the absence of air resistance, projectile motion depends only on initial conditions
(height, speed, and angle) and not on the projectile’s mass or shape.
Leave the cannon on the ground.
For one given initial speed, what angle produced the longest range?
45 degrees
For any setting, which velocity component changed throughout the trajectory?
The vertical velocity component changed throughout the motion, while the horizontal velocity
component remained constant.
Which direction did the acceleration vector point and why?
The acceleration vector points downward throughout the entire trajectory. This is because the only
force acting on the projectile (ignoring air resistance) is gravity, which always pulls objects toward
the Earth
Part 2:
You will need to understand the following relationships to complete this successfully:
𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒
𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑉𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 =
𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡
𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑉𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 𝑇𝑎𝑛(𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒)𝑥 𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑉𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦
𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑉𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 2
𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 =
2 ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡
The last relationship comes from Conservation of Energy. When you consider the vertical component of
the velocity as a factor in kinetic energy you find that gravitational potential energy is equal to vertical
1
kinetic energy; 𝑚𝑔ℎ = 2 𝑚𝑣 2 . You find that this relationship is independent of mass and you can solve
for “g”.
Conduct an experiment at each of these angles of 30®, 45®, and 60®.
Instructions for the simulation
Go back to the original screen for the simulation. Select the vectors window. Be sure to uncheck the Air
Resistance box. Leave the Initial Speed and Diameter the same. Check any boxes in the lower settings.
Keep the default setting of the Diameter and set the Mass slider to any value.
For all experiments
Record the angle, range, time of flight, and height for variations in mass. Be sure to include the tangent
of the angle you use in the following table. For each experiment, calculate the acceleration due to
gravity.
For each angle, you will fire the cannon to three different masses.
Tan(30®) = 0.5774; Tan(45®) = 1.00; Tan(60®) = 1.7321
Experiment Range Time Height Horizontal Tan(angle) Vertical Accelerati
Velocity Velocity on due to
Gravity
1 28.6 (5kg) 1.83 4.13 15.628 0.5774(30®) 9.023 9.85
2 33.03 (5kg) 2.59 8.26 12.752 1 (45®) 12.752 9.84
3 28.6 (5kg) 3.18 12.38 8.993 1.7321 (60®) 15.578 9.80
4 28.6 (2kg) 1.83 4.13 15.628 0.5774(30®) 9.023 9.85
5 33.03 (2kg) 2.59 8.26 12.752 1 (45®) 12.752 9.84
6 28.6 (2kg) 3.18 12.38 8.993 1.7321 (60®) 15.578 9.80
7 28.6 (8kg) 1.83 4.13 15.628 0.5774(30®) 9.023 9.85
8 33.03 (8kg) 2.59 8.26 12.752 1 (45®) 12.752 9.84
9 28.6 (8kg) 3.18 12.38 8.993 1.7321 (60®) 15.578 9.80
How well have you measured the acceleration due to gravity?
The measured values for acceleration due to gravity range from 9.80 m/s² to 9.85 m/s², which is very
close to the accepted value of 9.81 m/s². This indicates that the measurements are highly accurate. The
consistency of the results across different masses confirms that gravitational acceleration is
independent of mass, as expected. Minor variations in the values may be due to rounding errors or
measurement uncertainties. Overall, the experiment provides a reliable and precise measurement of
gravity.
The values haven’t changed for different masses as gravity is independent of mass discussed in part 1.
So, the values are the same for all masses.
