Newton’s Laws – Cannon Lab
The objective of this lab is to relate Newton’s three laws of motion to motion.
Apparatus: 2 film canisters w/lids alka-seltzer tablet
water 50-ml graduated cylinder
2 meter sticks goggles
electronic balance 30 pennies
masking tape paper towels
Procedure:
1. Lay two meter sticks flat on a lab table, parallel to each other about 1 cm apart with the metric side up.
2. Place a small piece of tape on each canister, label one C for Cannon and the other B for cannon Ball
3. Fill canister C with 15.0 ml of water
4. Find the mass of canister B and its lid.
5. Place canister B on its side between the meter sticks with the top of the lid at the 50 cm mark.
6. Break the alka-seltzer tablet into 4 pieces
7. Place one piece of the tablet into the cannon (C) and QUICKLY place the lid on.
8. QUICKLY place canister C on its side between the meter sticks so the lid of C is touching the lid of B
9. Stand Back
10. Once canister C pops, measure the distance that each container moved.
11. Repeat with 10 and 30 pennies in the cannon ball. Be sure that the cannon is rinsed and dry.
DATA
Mass of the cannon ball (g)B / Distance (cm)
cannon
C / cannon ball
B
Conclusion Questions
1. Make a multi-line graph of the cannon ball mass vs. distance of the ball and the distance of the cannon.
2. How does the distance of the cannon ball change as the mass of the cannon ball increases? Why?
3. How does the distance of the cannon change as the mass of the ball increases? Why?
4. Write a paragraph that relates this lab to each of Newton’s three laws to the motion exhibited in this lab. Use data to support your statements.
Things to think about when writing your paragraph
a. Was there a time when things were at rest?
b. Do you have data to show that force, mass and acceleration (acceleration can be measured by how far it went) are related?
c. Is there an interaction of objects, do one object push on another and that object pushes back?