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Long Lab 13

Pendulum lab , research report

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12 views5 pages

Long Lab 13

Pendulum lab , research report

Uploaded by

raoulmohan501
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Long Lab Report

Ballistic Pendulum Physics 1441


Raoul Mohan
Introduction
In this Lab we are going to calculate the velocity of an object as it shoots from a spring
loaded launcher that is part of something called a ballistic pendulum . Furthermore we
will determine the velocity by applying conservation of mechanical energy and
conservation of linear momentum .We will then take calculated values and compare
them with values obtained from photogates .For the conservation calculation we will be
using these two formulas V=sqrt(2gh) and v=V*(m+M)/m to generate data in meters per
sec . For the photgates will use v1=d/t to determine column data which will also be
meter per sec and lastly for the the difference in result between the sets of calculated
data we will use this formula (v1-v)*200/(v1+v) to determine the difference in percent .

Procedure;
For this lab we obviously are going to need the ballistic pendulum and photogates.

2 small balls with different masses so that we can clearly see if the mass has any effect on the
velocity .

A computer to read the data from the photogates and a ruler to measure the height traveled .

Now things to consider before you start the lab is the law of conservation of energy and
conservation of momentum . know their difference and know how they apply to specific subsets
like mechanical energy and linear momentum .

Please know how projectile motion works , how g affects the motion of the object .
Please know how systems apply to the conservation laws .

Lastly, to get a great understanding of this lab, know the small basic things such as keneting
energy, gravitational potential energy and understand conversion between them as you shoot
the ball .
Calculations;

Conservation of mechanical energy;


V=sqrt(2gh)=sqrt(2*9.8*.083)
V=1.27 meter per sec
Conservation of linear momentum ;
v=V*(m+M)/m= 1.27(.0688+.229)/.0688
v=5.49 meters per sec

Ball speed using photogates;


v1=d/t d= the distance between the two photogates and t is the time traveled .
v1=.0688/.0113
v1=6.01 meter per second

Percent difference in initial speed;


(v1-v)*200/(v1+v)
6.01-5.49*200/6.01+5.49
=9.04 percent difference between the two.

The steps above should be repeated 3 more times to achieve all the values, i did not
include the repeated steps because the lab report would have been way too long .
instead i should show how each table can be filled out using the formulas.

Error analysis:
For this lab there were 2 assumed errors that played a huge role and they were the
assumed massless road and catcher mechanism . and we worked around it by
assuming the road would have a 5 percent effect on the end result and subtracting that
from the end percent should lead to the estimated effect of the catcher mechanism .
Now for some errors I think had small implications but were not considered, were gravity
so small g and air resistance. As for my results I think were deemed appropriate since
most of my percent difference was below 10 percent, so in this case small.

In Conclusion, I think my results were reasonable and the goals were met in obtaining
our information about velocity even if it was off by 9 percent not accounting for the 2
major assumptions in errors . Furthermore I learned that this lab had a lot of small
factors that each had a very tiny effect on the result but because there were so many it
added up. I also learned that when we assume effect on results our data does not come
out very accurately in these types of situations , which is something that I am personally
not fond of.

Questions;
1A) The calculated velocity of the pendulum plus ball immediately after collision is
higher than true velocity of the pendulum plus ball immediately after collision because in
our calculation we did not consider the effect of the cather mechanism but in reality it
will have and effect and i think that effect will lead to a lowered velocity .
1B) The calculated initial velocity of the ball will be lower than the true velocity of the ball
because we used the conservation of mechanical energy to derive our initial speed and
for that we looked at the V=sqrt(2gh) formula. The problem with this is that g has a
greater effect in height change , or vertical direction then it does on distances along a
horizontal direction . So what I am trying to say is that the distance of the photgates
would possibly not match to a calculated distance derived from V=sqrt(2gh) formula. I
think g played a role on change in height which then led to a smaller number for big V
and then when we plugged it in v=V*(m+M)/m formula to calculate ball speed before
collision we got a slightly lower value then the one from the photogates . So yes the
speed of the ball from the photogate will be larger then the calculated pendulum speed
and it also agrees with the table data.

1C) Assuming these two were the only sources of error , to estimate the effect of the
cather mechanism we take the 5 percent given by the massless rod and subtract it from
the difference . For example 9.04 -5 will give us 4.04 percent as the catcher estimated
effect on ballistic pendulum results .And the 9.04 percent I got from the table named
difference for initial speed measurements . This estimated effect will differ because
different masses for the ball were used but the same subtraction could be applied .

2A) 1cm=.01m
v2^2 − v1^2 = 2*g*x = v2^2-(6.01)^2=2*9.8*.01
v2^2=36.3161
v2=6.02

So if we were to remark on the effects we can see that it only has a 1 percent
difference.

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