Introduction

In this practical a rubber band will be projected across the table with different launch velocities at a
fixed angle of 45°. To vary the launch velocity the rubber band will be stretched to different lengths
but first you need to practice your launching technique so that you get consistent results. The band
will be launched from a plastic ruler as shown below.

The angle has been set with the protractor and the blocks clamped together with a G clamp are
stuck to the table with blu-tac.
The range of the rubber band is very sensitive to small changes so you have to practice quite a bit to
get it right. Start by extending the band enough so that it has a range of about 2m, see how close
you can get it to land in the same place every time. It is important that the band is mounted in exactly
the same way each time, to make this possible mark the two ends of the band as shown. What other
factors are important?
In this experiment you are going to change the launch velocity by
stretching the band by different amounts, the longer it is the further it
goes.  Arrange a tape measure along the table to measure the range of
the elastic.

Theory
When the band is stretched by a length x, elastic PE is stored in the stretched rubber, when released
this PE is converted into KE. If the rubber band obeys Hooke’s law (Research this) then
½kx2 = ½mv2
So v2 =kx2/m
Where x is the distance stretched, k is the spring constant, m is the mass of the rubber band, v is the
velocity
The range will be a maximum when the launch angle is 45°
Rmax = v2/g
Substituting for v2 gives: \\
Rmax = kx2/mg
Hypothesis: By measuring the maximum range for different extensions of the rubber band test this
relationship and find a value for g.