Introduction: Free-fall, projectile motion, and proportionality
In this lab, you will be exploring free-fall, projectile motion, and proportionality. As a citizen of Earth, you are likely already familiar with the first two concepts. However, the third – proportionality – may be completely new to you.
In Exercise 1, you will be asked to analyze an equation, and determine what variables are “proportional” to each other. You will use the equation to calculate values and make various plots to test for proportionality.
In Exercise 2, you will be filming the dropping of a ball (or other small object) and collecting data about the ball’s position at different times. This will allow you to determine the ball’s velocity at different times during the drop, and ultimately measure the ball’s acceleration due to gravity.
Exercise 3 will ask you to think about how various quantities (position, speed, velocity, acceleration) vary for a ball that has been thrown straight up in the air. This will lead into a discussion question about projectile motion, and have you explain the solution to a classic physics problem in Exercise 4.
Learning Objectives
Set yourself the following learning outcomes:
By the end of this lab, I will
- Understand proportionality to describe the way in which quantities are related to each other.
- Recognize which variables, when plotted against one another, yield a straight line.
- Be able to describe the motion of an object in free fall with the kinematic variables.
- Understand and be able to apply the sign conventions for velocity and acceleration.
- Be able to measure and plot position and time data for an object in freefall.
But before you get to the exercises, it’s important to get warmed up!
