Projectile Motion Lab

*Safety First: Never aim the launcher at another student. Be careful that the area you are launching towards is safe.

The goal of the lab is to use the projectile launcher to investigate a few details about trajectory motion. You will determine the speed of the launcher experimentally, and then use this value to calculate the range of the launcher using different launch angles.

1.  Set up the launcher using the provided clamp. Set the launch spring to a “reasonable range” and then don’t change the launch spring.

  1. Determine the speed of the launched marble. Do this by launching the marble horizontally and measuring the horizontal distance traveled (the range) (You may also want to measure the height of the launcher above the ground & can use this height to calculate the time the marble is in the air, yes?)
  1. Investigate different launch angles. First, calculate the horizontal range using angles of 30, 45, and 60 degrees. Then, determine experimentally the horizontal range using these same angles. Compare the theoretical with the experimental values, calculate % error, and list a couple of reasons for the differences.
  2. Make a table to show your calculated and measured distances.
  3. Show your calculations.
  4. Use carbon paper to locate where the marble hits.
  1. Which angle yielded the largest horizontal range? Why?