Range of a Cannonball
The embedded simulation below is about the motion of projectiles. This is a fun exercise that uses a lot of high level physics.
However, we are going to use it as an exercise to design a fair test to answer a question, collect data, analyse it and draw a conclusion based on what we have learned. Use the LAB tab of the simulation.
There are a number of questions that we can have regarding the cannon. The most important one is what affects the range of the cannon? For simplicity - keep the default settings of air resistance (off) and gravity (9.81 m/s2).
Variables that we can change include:
YOUR TASK - Choose a variable and design a fair test that you can carry out that involves at least 8 evenly spaced values. Record the data collected in a table and plot the graph of the data. (scatter plot). Your report will be written in a 11 pt sensible font and have the following sections:
However, we are going to use it as an exercise to design a fair test to answer a question, collect data, analyse it and draw a conclusion based on what we have learned. Use the LAB tab of the simulation.
There are a number of questions that we can have regarding the cannon. The most important one is what affects the range of the cannon? For simplicity - keep the default settings of air resistance (off) and gravity (9.81 m/s2).
Variables that we can change include:
- Speed of cannon ball
- Height of the cannon
- Angle of the cannon
- Mass of the cannon ball
YOUR TASK - Choose a variable and design a fair test that you can carry out that involves at least 8 evenly spaced values. Record the data collected in a table and plot the graph of the data. (scatter plot). Your report will be written in a 11 pt sensible font and have the following sections:
- Name, date and title (1)
- Aim - single sentence to explain what you are investigating. (1)
- Hypothesis - what do you think you will find out from your investigation and why? (2)
- Method - a clear paragraph or two that explains how you plan to carry out the investigation. This must explain how you plan to make the test fair and reliable. (2)
- Diagram - can be a screenshot, but must include captions and labels (2)
- Table of Data - your results, presented in a MS Word table format. Don't forget to put units in the column headers. (2)
- Graph (5) - can be done using excel or by hand on graph paper. Points for axes and scales, labels, data points, smooth line-of-best-fit and neatness.
- Conclusion - clearly explain what you have discovered from performing this investigation. How would this be useful to know in the real world? (2)