Hunting: Looney Tunes Style
Task: Using the materials given, find a way to utilize the forms of energy we’ve learned about to hunt that pesky roadrunner with a gigantic boulder (ACME certified of course). The roadrunner will be 75 cm away from the cliff you are cleverly hunting from. The boulder is too heavy to throw off of the cliff, so don’t try or you’ll get a coyote hernia…ouch. Lucky for you, there is a slight hill at the top of the cliff.
List of Materials:
Stopwatch
Meter stick
Marble
Clamps and Stands
Track
Vernier Photogates and Computers
Calculator
Target
Roadrunner
Problem: Accurately hitting the road runner with the boulder from the cliff on the first try.
Calibration Procedure: Create your hunting method and have it pre-approved by yours truly. You will need to create a procedure to calibrate your method for releasing the boulder. Use the Physics we have studied to decide how to determine the exact setup to hit the road runner (include a diagram of the energy transformations involved). You can’t just drop the boulder off the cliff until you hit the target. You must not let the boulder hit the ground during calibration. (After all, the coyote would have a tough time dragging that boulder up the cliff again.) Your calibration procedure will allow you to calculate the details of your release for the actual hunt. Once you have designed your calibration procedure, get it approved. You must describe your setup and the physics behind it. Be ready to explain it to me when I come around.
Data: Once you have a calibration procedure, use it to collect data to calibrate your hunting setup. Organize any data you collect in a nice, neat, and organized fashion for your lab write-up.
Calculations: Using your Physics knowledge, perform the necessary calculations to calibrate your setup. You must show calculations in terms of energy involved at various points along the boulder’s path.
Hypothesis: Using your calibration procedure, data, and calculations, predict the setup to use to hit the road runner 75 cm. from the cliff.
Procedure: Test your hypothesis. Setup the system you predicted would hit the road runner and see if you are correct.
Data: Collect data of what you observe happen. Record how far, if at all you were from the target. Be sure to neatly organize your data.
Analysis: Why do you think your data turned out the way it did? What influenced your results? Describe what you think contributed to your success or difficulty hitting the road runner.
Conclusions: At this point reflect back on your hunting trip. Describe its successes and failures. If, in fact, you had trouble hitting that little blue beast and went hungry discuss what sorts of error could explain it (If you answer “Human Error” I’ll sick Elmer Fudd on you).
Also, describe how you as a scientist used theoretical ideas to help you arrive at a prediction and solve the problem.
This lab write-up will be due next class.