1

Amal Abu-Ali
Jenna Fusaro
George Kopti
Rhiannon Trujillo
Mr. Hill
Physics, Period 6
13 October 2015
Projectile Lab
Purpose
To compare the displacements of a projectile when it is dropped from different heights and
differing angles of an inclined plane.
Background
When something rolls off of an inclined plane and then falls off of a table, the object becomes
a projectile. While the object falls, it has a horizontal velocity and a vertical velocity. The height
of the table determines how long the object will stay in motion, and the horizontal velocity
determines the length of its displacement. In the lab, we will roll a ball down an inclined plane
and off of a table in multiple trials, while measuring the ball's displacement using carbon paper.
In each trial, the inclined plane will be set to a different height and angle to observe how it
affects the ball's displacement.
Equations and Constants
g=9.81 m/ s 2
Table is 76.4 cm above the ground
t=
dy
vy=

Results
A higher angle and height of the inclined plane caused a larger displacement of the
projectile.
Materials

Diagram

Procedure

1 Meter stick
1 Board
1 Ball
3 Sheets White Paper
3 Sheets Carbon Paper
Tape
1 Supporting Stand
1 Clamp
1 Sheet Binder Paper
1 Protractor

1. Collect the needed materials. Choose the angles you will use in the four trials and the distance
on the inclined plane from which you will roll the ball from. Attach the clamp to the supporting
stand and place it on a table. Create a data table to record displacement of the ball, angle of the
inclined plane, point on the inclined plane from which the ball was rolled, height between that
point of the incline plane to the table, time,
2. Lean the board on the clamp to create an inclined plane and use a protractor to measure the
angle that the inclined plane forms with the table. Make sure that the bottom of the plane is a few
inches from the edge of the table. Raise or lower the clamp until it reaches the correct angle for
the first trial, then, using the meter stick, measure and record the height from the point on the
plane that you will drop the marble from to the table top and the height of the table. Use a piece
of binder paper to connect the bottom of the board to the table in a smooth curved shape. This
will keep the ball from bouncing.
3. Place three sheets of white paper on the ground, forming a line directly in front of the bottom
of the inclined plane. Put the three sheets of carbon paper on top of them, face down. This will
create markings for each impact on the white paper so the displacement can be measured.
4. Place the ball on the correct point of the inclined plane and let go of it. It should land on the
white paper, if not move the white paper and the carbon paper to the approximate area where the
ball fell and place the in a line again. Mark which trail created the spot on the white paper.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 for each of the angles chosen in step 1 and be sure to collect precise data for
each trial.
6. When finished with each of the trials, remove the carbon paper sheets off of the white paper
sheets without moving the white paper. Use a meter stick to measure and record how far the ball
travelled from the table for each of the trials.

Data
Trial

Angle of
Inclined
Plane
(

Length of
Travel on
Plane
(cm)

Height
(cm)

Distance
Travelled
from
Table
(cm)

Time
(s)

Horizontal
Velocity
(m/s)

90

9.5

30.3

.39

.78

15

90

17.5

56.5

.39

1.49

25

90

26

70.9

.39

1.82

35

90

39

88.7

.39

2.27

Calculations
Trial 1Horizontal Velocity: 30.3 cm= .303 m, v x =

dx
=
t

.303
=.78 m/s
.39

This equation was used because we knew the horizontal displacement, .303m, and the
time, .39 seconds, but we needed to find the horizontal velocity. The centimeters of 30.3 cm were
converted into .303 meters.

d x
.859
Vertical Velocity: 85.9cm= .859m, v y =
= 2.04 m/s
=
t
.42

We used this equation to find the vertical velocity because we knew the height of the
table, 76.4cm (converted to .764m), and the time, .39 seconds.
Time: t= , 76.4=.764m, = .39 sec
This equations was used to find time because we knew the vertical displacement, 76.4 cm
(converted to .764 m) and the constant of gravity, 9.81 m/ s 2 .
Graphs

Discussion

All of the projectiles rolled for the same length on the inclined plane, but they had
different heights and angles, which changed their horizontal displacement and horizontal
velocities. The first trial had a projectile dropped from a 5 degree incline. It had the slowest
horizontal velocity of .79 m/s and the smallest distance travelled at 30.3 cm. Because of its small
angle, it had the smallest height above the table at 9.5 cm, which is probably what made it the
slowest. The second trial had a slightly larger horizontal velocity and horizontal displacement of
1.49 m/s and 56.5 cm. Its angle was 15 degrees, and the planes height above the table was 17.5
cm, which may have been why the projectile move further and faster. The third trials
displacement and horizontal velocity were even larger, as were its angle and height. Its angle was
25 degrees and a height above the table of 26 cm. The ball had a horizontal displacement of 70.9
and a horizontal velocity of 1.82 m/s, each of which were larger than the first two trials. The last
trial, with a 35 degree inclined plane, had the largest height above the table at 39 cm. Its
horizontal velocity and displacement were the largest of the four trials. From the calculations we
got the number 2.27 m/s for horizontal velocity and 88.7 cm for horizontal displacement. The
steepest and highest inclined plane gave it the highest horizontal velocity and therefore the
highest horizontal displacement.
Some possible sources of error in this experiment could have been either in the recorded
data or in the calculations that. The distance travelled could have been measured incorrectly for a
trial, or numbers could have been put into the calculator wrong for the calculations for time of
horizontal velocity. The wrong formula could have been used in the calculations, or the angle of
the inclined plane could have been incorrectly measured as well. It seems that with the a steeper
inclined plane, the projectile travels further because in each of the four trials, the horizontal
displacement did increased. If the height of the inclined plane is increased, the horizontal

velocity increases, which increases the horizontal displacement. If the inclined plane is longer, it
will allow the projectile to have a higher horizontal velocity because it allows the projectile to
gain more momentum before it leaves the table and enters free fall. When it leaves the table, it
loses horizontal velocity until it lands and only has a short amount of time in the air, but while it
is rolling down the plane, it can spend more time gaining speed. Calculating vertical velocity is
better than using a stopwatch because human reaction time would make the measurement less
precise. The time measured would be larger than the actual time because it would take the person
time to react. In the trials with the highest or longest inclined plane, the ball would have the
largest horizontal velocity when it hit the ground because the higher or longer incline would
allow the ball to gain speed.
Conclusion
The larger the angle of the inclined plane, the higher the height off the table the plane
would be, and the father the projectile will travel when it leaves the table. This extra steepness
makes the projectile roll faster, and is probably why the projectiles travelled farther and faster in
each trial. If the projectile is speed up more and more as it rolls down the inclined plane, it will
have a higher velocity, which will allow it to move farther before it hits the ground. The ball only
has the same limited time in the air in each trial, so if it has a faster horizontal velocity, it will be
able to move farther than if it had a slower velocity. In the lab, when the ball had higher
horizontal velocity, it moved farther.