College of Sciences

Department of Applied Physics and Astronomy

LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS IN
PHYSICS (1)

Exp. (…….) Projectile Motion

STUDENT LAB REPORT

Student name: Ismail Ali Abdulrazzaq ID:- U23104507

Partner name: Karem Mohammad AlSahen ID:- U23106174

Partner name: Mogammad Taulgah Regal ID:- U23105108

Partner name: Mohamed Ahmed Ali Hassan ID:- U22200318

Section (……01T……) group (……8…….)

Physics 1 Lab. Exp. Projectile Motion Spring 2022-2023

Procedures and data analysis

Part (1): To show that the time of flight (T) of a horizontal projectile is independent
of its initial speed.

1. Adjust the angle of the launcher θ = zero, the launcher is positioned horizontally
at the end of the table.
2. Select the timer t1, the time between 1st photogate and 2nd photogate, and timer t2 between the
2nd photo gate and the 3rd photo gate.
3. Fire the ball then measure the time of flight (T) at the point where the ball hits the ground.
4. Repeat step (3) for three ranges, short, medium, and long.
0.1
5. Calculate the initial velocity of each range (V0 =0.1/t1). ν 0=
T
6. Fill your data in table 1.
7. Compare the total time (T) of three ranges and write your comments.

distance between the two photogates= 0.1 m

Time of flight (T) s
Range t1 (s) t2 (s) V0 = 0.1/t1
T=t1+t2
s 0.033 s 0.422 s 0.455 m/s 3.03
Short

s 0.021 s 0.442 s 0.463 m/s 4.76

Medium

s 0.016 s 0.455 s 0.471 m/s 6.25

Long

Comments

In this part, we wanted to show that for a horizontal projectile, the time of flight is
independent on its initial speed. We launched a projectile horizontally several times with
different speeds (3.03 m/s, 4.76 m/s, 6.25 m/s) and the time of flight was almost the same
for each trial. Hence, we can say that it is independent on the initial speed. (The reason why
these values of time aren’t exactly the same is air resistance. Neglecting air resistance,
these values will be the same.)

Part (2): To verify that the horizontal component of the velocity (Vx) of a projectile is

Physics 1 Lab. Exp. Projectile Motion Spring 2022-2023

 Constant throughout its flight.

1. Fix the projectile launcher on the floor, adjust the angle to 30°, and choose the medium
range to fire the ball (found in 1st part). The horizontal velocity of the projectile is Vx=V0 Cos
(30). (you are free to select the angle)
2. Find the velocity of the projectile for different distances (x= 0.5 m, 1.0 m, 1.5m, 2 m, 2.5 m)
3. Record your measurements in table (2).
4. Compare the experimental values of Vx.
5. Write Below your comments

table ( 2 )
T=(t1 + t2)
velocity (m/sec)
X (m) t1 (sec.) t2 (sec.) (sec.) X/T

0.5 0.023 s 0.100 s 0.123 s 4.065 m/s

1.0 0.023 s 0.226 s 0.249 s 4.016 m/s

1.5 0.023 s 0.354 s 0.377 s 3.979 m/s
2.0 0.023 s 0.490 s 0.513 s 3.899 m/s
2.5

Comments

In this part, we wanted to show that a projectile’s horizontal velocity is constant along its flight.
What we have done was calculating the time of flight by putting the time-of-flight accessory in
the path of the projectile with some horizontal distances from the launching point. For different
horizontal distances (0.5 m, 1.0 m, 1.5 m, 2.0m) we found that the values of the horizontal
velocity are almost the same. Hence the horizontal velocity of a projectile is constant. (The
reason why these values are decreasing as the horizontal distance increases is air resistance.
The object spends more time in the air, hence it gets more effect from the air. Neglecting air
resistance, these values will be the same.)

Part (3):
Objective: i- To study the relationship between the angle of the projectile and its angle .

Physics 1 Lab. Exp. Projectile Motion Spring 2022-2023

 ii- To find the acceleration of gravity gexp
Procedures:
1- Open the following link:
https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/projectile-motion/latest/projectile-motion_en.html
2- Click on Lab
3- Leave the settings to the right of the screen as they are.
4- Set the initial speed at 15 m/s
5- Adjust the launcher at 25o

6- Click on the red button below and release the projectile

7- Move the red circle horizontally toward the projectile target and measure the range R
8- Record the angle (θ) and the range (R) in table 3 in your lab report
9- Repeat steps 6-8 for the angles (35o, 45o, 55o, 65o, 75o, 85o)
10- Calculate sin (2θ) and record that in Table 3
11- Draw the range (R) versus the angle (θ) using Excel (Hint: this relation is not linear)
12- Draw the range (R) versus sin (2θ) using Excel, then find the slope of the line

Table (3)

Physics 1 Lab. Exp. Projectile Motion Spring 2022-2023

 vo= 15 m/s
θo Sin (2θ) R (m)
25 0.766 17.57 m
35 0.940 21.55 m
45 1 22.94 m
55 0.940 21.55 m
65 0.766 17.57 m
75 0.5 11.47 m
85 0.174 3.98 m

Slope = 22.941 m

13- From the slope of (R-sin2θ) graph, calculate the acceleration of gravity:
2 2
vo (15 ) 2
gexp = = =9.8 m/s
slope 22.941

14- Calculate the percentage error in g:

|9.8−9.8|
×100 %=0 %
9.80

15- Attach the graphs to your lab report

Range to sin2ɵ graph

25

f(x) = 22.9408020611384 x − 0.00670275470713833

20 R² = 0.999999098610839

15
Range (m)

10

0
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1
sin(2ɵ)

Questions

Physics 1 Lab. Exp. Projectile Motion Spring 2022-2023

Q1) Does a change in the initial speed change the time of flight? If so, how?

If the object was a horizontal projectile, then the change of its initial speed won’t affect
the time of flight, because it is independent on the horizontal component of the initial
velocity. If it was a projectile with an initial angle≠ 0, then the change of the initial speed
will change the time of flight, because the object will then move upwards before it starts
descending.

Q2) If a ball is dropped from the same height and at the same time as the ball that was
shot horizontally (see figure), which ball would hit the ground first? Explain.

They would hit the ground at the same moment, since both of their
vertical components of their initial velocity is equal to zero. By the
−1 2
equation: ∆ y = g t +v yo t , we can see that since the vertical
2
displacement and the vertical component of their initial velocity are
equal, then t , the time of flight, will also be equal. In other words, the
initial speed of a horizontal projectile (a projectile that its vyo = 0)
doesn’t affect its time of flight.

Q3) A projectile is fired with vo = 17 m/s at an angle of 30° above the horizontal.

Calculate
1. Its velocity at the highest point of the trajectory.

v=v xo=v o cos θ=( 17 ) cos 30=14.72 m/ s

2. Its velocity just before it strikes the ground.

m m
, v x =14.72 ⇒ v= √ v y + v x =17 m/s
2 2
v y =−v yo=−v o sin θ=−8.5
s s
3. The acceleration of the projectile at the highest point.

Physics 1 Lab. Exp. Projectile Motion Spring 2022-2023

 2
a=a y =−g=−9.8 m/s

4. The maximum range (R) of the projectile.

2 2
v o sin2 θ ( 17 ) sin 2 (30 )
R= = =25.54 m/s
g 9.8

Conclusion:

In this part, we wanted to find the relationship between the angle of a projectile and its range. We used a
simulator to simulate a projectile launched with different angles (25o, 35o, 45o, 55o, 65o, 75o, 85o) and with a
constant speed of 15 m/s. We found the range of the projectile with each angle, and the value of sin 2 θ .
After graphing the R-sin 2 θ graph, we found that it was a straight line. Which means that the range is
2
v sin2 θ
proportional to sin 2 θ. This corresponds to the equation: R= o . We also found g from the graph by:
g
2
vo
g= . The results:
slope

g= 9.8 m/s2. Percentage error: 0%

Since the experiment was done by a simulator, there wasn’t any source of error. Air and friction were
neglected, and no human errors. However, we can surely say that random error was and is always present.

Physics 1 Lab. Exp. Projectile Motion Spring 2022-2023