In this activity you are invited to study the relationship between the angle of the projectile and its
range.
Theory:
For a projectile the range (R) depends on the angle of projection () and the initial velocity (Vo)
as seen from the equation R =
vo
2sin(2θ)
g
, where (g) is the acceleration due to gravity. Using
this equation, if you plot the relationship between (R) on the y-axis and (sin2) on the x-axis,
you will get a straight line of slop R =
vo
2
g
, so you can find the acceleration due to gravity
using this plot.
Procedure:
Open the following link: https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/projectile-motion/latest/projectilemotion_en.html
1. From the home page of this link, click on lab, from lab window place the projectile canon
at height h=0, adjust the magnitude of the initial velocity of the lunched object at 20m/s.
2. Adjust the first angle to 25o
. Record you data in table 3.
3. Run the software, measure the projectile range (R), record the angle and the range in table
3.
4. Change the angle as shown in table 2, and repeat step3.
Data Analysis: Activity IV
a) Calculate (sin2).
b) Draw the relationship between () and (R) using (R) as the coordinate.
c) Draw the relationship between (R) and (sin2) using (R) as the coordinate.
d) Calculate the slope of this straight line.
e) From the slope calculate the acceleration due to gravity.