Background Information

In the past, the first person who accurately calculated a projectile is Galileo. A projectile is an object that moves in
two dimensions, in other words, it moves vertically and horizontally at the same time. A special characteristic of a
projectile is that its motion in the vertical direction is independent of its motion in the horizontal direction. If air
resistance is small enough to be ignored, then the only force acting on a projectile after launch, is the vertical force
of gravity. Therefore, in the absence of air resistance, the horizontal component of the projectile’s velocity does not
change. In the vertical direction, the force of gravity causes a constant downwards acceleration of 9.8 m/s 2.

Many sports include some form of projectile motion, such as long jump, archery and shotput. In shotput, as with
most of these sports, the object is to maximise the horizontal distance the projectile travels (International
Association of Athletics Federations 2016). Understanding the factors that affect projectile motion is very important
to athletes and coaches in order to enhance performance.

Once launched, a projectile follows a pre-determined path that is dependent upon the launch velocity, launch angle,
height of release, air resistance and gravity (Pyke 1991). Most of these factors cannot be easily changed; the one
exception is the launch angle. In a vacuum, the maximum distance is obtained for a launch angle of 45°, and
complementary angles give the same distance (Price & Romano 1998). However, when air resistance is taken into
account, the optimal angle is less than 45°. This is as angles below 45° have a reduced time and overall distance of
flight, which in turn reduces the amount of drag that acts upon the projectile (Price & Romano 1998).

In this experiment, the projectile motion of a metal bearing launching at different angles is experimented to see
which angle that the metal bearing has the largest range (m).

Figure 1: Acceleration a is constant, downwards and equal to g (9.8m/s)

Figure 2: Horizontal velocity is constant throughout the entire trajectory

Figure 3: A projectile’s constant downward acceleration a changes the vertical velocity v y throughout the trajectory

Figure 4: Trajectories of launch angles with the same initial speed

Aim:
To obtain the optimal launch angle for a projectile launched room a set height above the ground.

Hypothesis:
As the angle of projectile launched is increased, the range of the projectile would also increase.

Independent variable:
Launch angle is deliberately changed throughout the practical to support the aim which is to obtain a launch angle
for a projectile launched.

Dependent variable:
Range

Apparatus:
 1 x Pasco projectile launcher
 1 x projectile ball bearing
 1 x carbon paper
 1 x white paper
 1 x sticky tape in dispenser
 1 x 5m measuring tape
 1 x large floor retort stand
Controlled variables:
Variable Controlled
The launch height
The type of projectile
Initial velocity of the projectile
Why it was controlled?
The value of the launch height was
consistent throughout the whole
practical as different launch heights
would have resulted in two
independent variables, further
impacting the range.
The type of projectile launched from
the launcher was kept constant
through the trials as different
projectile have different cross-
sectional area, mass and different
texture of surface future impacting
the amount of air resistance acting
upon the projectile. Different
amount of air resistance would
affect the velocity of the projectile
which would impact the final range.
The initial velocity of the projectile
needs to be kept constant of each
launch angle as the initial velocity of
the projectile shares a directly
proportional relationship to the
range. This is conclusion by the
equation, S H =v H × t .
How it was controlled?
The launch height was kept the
same throughout the whole
practical by using the same
projectile launcher ensure that the
height from which the bearing is
launched is kept controlled.
To ensure that the projectile
launched was kept the same a ball
bearing was used during all the
trials, ensuring that the amount of
air resistance acting upon the
bearing is kept constant.
The initial velocity of the projectile
is kept constant for each launch
angle by not changing the launch
angle during each trial as increasing
the launch angle increases the
velocity, which increase the time in
air.

Method:
Figure 5: Experimental setup
 1. The projectile launcher was set at a suitable height above the table by attaching it to a retort stand as shown
in Figure 5.
2. The barrel was set to an angle of 10 degrees and pieces of carbon paper with white paper underneath in the
projectile’s approximate landing position were places and fixed in position with tape.
3. The projectile was fired from the launcher using a suitable power setting.
4. Step 3 was then repeated three times using the same launch angle and a consistent power setting.
5. The range was measured for each trial from directly beneath the launcher to the point marked on the carbon
paper.
6. The measured ranges were recorded in Table 1 and the average range was calculated using Excel.
7. Step 2 to 6 were repeated with a launch angles 20 to 50 degrees.

Results:

Table 1: Table of values for the different ranges obtained from launching a projectile at different angles
Launch Angle (°) Range (m)
Average of Range of Trials
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
Trials
10 1.51 1.52 1.48 1.50 0.03
20 1.67 1.67 1.67 1.67 0.00
30 1.76 1.74 1.74 1.75 0.02
40 1.71 1.71 1.71 1.71 0.00
50 1.55 1.56 1.36 1.52 0.10

Figure 6: The effect of launch angle of the projectile on its range

The effect of launch angle on projectile range (m)

1.80
1.75
1.70
1.65
Range (m)

1.60
1.55
1.50
1.45
1.40
1.35
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55
Launch Angle (° )

Discussion:

The hypothesis can be supported by Figure 6, as a trend is shown throughout the trails. In Figure 6, it can be
observed that as the launch angle increases, the range also increases until an angle of approx. 34° is reached. When
no external forces are acting upon the projectile, an optimum angle of 45° is reached to achieve the greatest range.
Due to air resistance acting upon the projectile ball bearing the optimum angle can be classified as 34°. In a world,
where there is no air resistance the horizontal component of the ball bearing would be the same at any point on the
trendline, although in this practical that is not true due to the presence of air resistance.

The precision of the data from this practical can be considered to be high as represented by the data in Table 1.
Launch angles 20° and 40° were the most precise from the other angles as both angles had ranges of 0.00m,
meaning they measured a consistent range throughout the three trials. Whereas launch angle of 10° had a range
value of 0.10 meaning that random errors had impacted the data of 10°. Conducting three trials for each launch
angle allowed the effect of random errors present to be minimal.

Minimum scatter around the trend line can be seen in Figure 6 implicating the high reliability of the experiment. To
achieve high reliability throughout the whole practical multiple trials were performed to ensure that the effect of the
random errors on the data obtained was minimal. Thus, similar results can be obtained without any complications
when this practical is repeated. The practical can be considered to have high validity as the variables were
successfully controlled in the method.

The accuracy displayed in this practical can be considered low as according to this practice the optimum angle to
achieve the maximum range is approx. 33°, whereas in a practical with no errors impacting the data and no external
forces acting upon the projectile the optimum angle would be 45°. In this practical the optimum angle is lower due
to projectile experiencing a greater air resistance due to its great flight time.

From the minimal scatter displayed in Figure 6, the presence of some random errors can be seen. A random error
that could have occurred during this practical includes the launch angle of the projectile not being constant during all
the multiple trials conducted. Incorrect angles could be set on the projectile launcher due to a Parallax Error, which
can be further avoided by placing the eyes at the level of the appropriate angle marking.

Incorrect measuring of the range value can also be considered. When measuring the range of the projectile
launched, minor fluctuations can be caused to the values as every time the launch angle in increased, the ruler
would need to be moved back slightly. This error can be reduced by double checking before measuring the range
and adding an extra step to the method where after increasing the angle the ruler is readjusted to the correct point
ensuring the correct value for the range is measured. Reducing these random errors would further increase the
precision of the results.

As this practical was not repeated again, systematic errors cannot be identified. Although some possible systematic
errors include the measurement markings on the ruler not calibrated correctly, all the measurement could have
been offset by the same fraction due to faulty measuring ruler used to measure the value of range. This error can be
minimised by using multiple measuring rulers to reduce the chance of obtaining incorrect measurements for the
range value.

Another systematic error could be as the experiment was being conducted it was noticed that the projectile
launched was placed on a surface that had little bumps on it causing a little tilt in the position of the launcher
meaning that each angle from which the ball bearing had been launched from was not consistent throughout the
trials for each launch angle. This would affect the parabolic path of the bearing, hence stop it from falling at its
maximum range for that angle of projection.

In conclusion, the practical posed a high validity as all the variables were successfully controlled in the method.
However, low accuracy was displayed by the data as the maximum range was achieved at approx. 33°, whereas a
value of approx. 45° should’ve been the optimum angle. The hypothesis however was supported by the results
It was observed that as the launch angle increases, the range also increases until an angle of approx. 34° was
reached. The limiting factor of this practical was air resistance as during each trial, air resistance acted on the ball
bearing. To achieve data with higher accuracy, this practical can be conducted in a vacuum environment, to stop any
external forces acting upon the bearing.