Sarah Schifferle

Mr. Keller
Eta
December 15, 2021

Measuring The Force Pop of a Popper Toy

Introduction
The lab question was “can we accurately find the force pop using the information we are
2 2
given?”. To find this answer we used Σ𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎 and 𝑉 = 𝑉0 + 2𝑎(𝑦 − 𝑦0) to create the
2
𝑉
2𝑔ℎ = 𝑉, 2(∆𝑦)
= 𝑎𝑝, and 𝐹𝑝 = 𝑚(𝑎𝑝 + 𝑔) equations. We also met the course domain of
designing and executing investigations by designing experimental procedures to answer the lab
question.

Variables
No independent variables were used in this experiment, as all trials were done in the same
place and all variables were present in each trial. The dependent variable is the height that the
popper goes. The constant variable were that we used the same popper in each trial, we used
the same tape measurer in each trial and recorded in the same place, and the same person
(Belle) was responsible for popping the popper in each trial.

Research Objective
The research objective was to calculate the force pop of the popper toy by recording videos of
us popping the toy.

Materials
● 1 popper-8 cm in total, the mesh skirt-5 cm, 0.05 m
● 2 tape measures-1 meter each
● 2 pieces of tape-1 inch wide

Procedure
{Complete, specific, detailed! I should be able to do exactly what you did. There should be a
least one diagram or picture of your set-up with a picture title and description}
1. Get a tape measure, tape, and a popper
2. Tape the tape measure to the wall with one end at where the floor meets the wall
3. Tape the other side of the tape measure as high as it can go
4. Place popper in front of tape measure
5. Start recording a video on your iphone with the popper in frame
6. Place index finger and thumb on opposite sides of foam popper head
 7. Press head of popper to the ground
8. Release the popper by moving your fingers to the side away from the popper
9. End the video once the popper has returned to the ground again
10. Repeat steps 4-8 5 times

Data and Analysis

{All data tables, graphs, observations, etc go here}

To calculate force pop we started with the equation Σ𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎. We then broke the sum of the
forces into its components: 𝐹𝑝 − 𝑚𝑔 = 𝑚𝑎. Then when you simplify the equation it goes to:
𝐹𝑝 = 𝑚𝑎 + 𝑚𝑔. You can then factor that out to become 𝐹𝑝 = 𝑚(𝑎 + 𝑔). We measured the
mass but we still needed a (the acceleration). In order to solve for that we needed to start with
2 2 2
the equation 𝑉 = 𝑉𝑜 + 2𝑎(𝑦 − 𝑦𝑜). Then we simplified that to 𝑉 = 2𝑎∆𝑦 and then to
2
𝑉 2 2
2(∆𝑦)
= 𝑎. In order to find the velocity we start with the same equation: 𝑉 = 𝑉𝑜 + 2𝑎(𝑦 − 𝑦𝑜)
2 2
. Then simplify to 0 = 𝑉 − 2𝑔ℎ which is the same thing as 𝑉 = 2𝑔ℎ. Then to isolate the
velocity you square root both sides to get 2𝑔ℎ = 𝑣.
Error Analysis
The errors that existed in this lab were that we had a person popping the popper so every pop
was not the same and did not pop the same height. We could see this in our data because the
range of the height the popper reached ranged widely from 1.5 meters to 1.2 meters.
Additionally, it was difficult to tell how high the popper went in the video because in the video the
measurements were blurry. We could only tell the height to the nearest centimeter rather than
the nearest millimeter. We tried to minimize the error which was somewhat effective by having
Belle pop it every time and recording the video in slow motion so it would be easier to go frame
by frame to tell exactly how high the popper got. It likely minimized the error however there was
still error in it. I trust our data as an estimate of the force pop but I do not trust it for the exact
force pop.

Conclusion
The research objective was to accurately calculate the force pop of the popper toy by taking
videos of the popper height. We were able to reach the research objective to an extent by
calculating the average force pop to around 1.2 and the average height to around 1.312. Our
data supports our research objective because we were able to calculate the force pop within a
newton of accuracy and is therefore trustworthy to an extent. However, this number is not
entirely reliable and we therefore did not completely uphold the accuracy part of the research
objective. In order to have the way the popper was launched be more constant, it would’ve been
good to use something like a robot that does it nearly the exact same way every time.
Additionally, it would have worked better if we had a better camera so that the measurements
would not be blurry. A possible extension could be testing which surfaces the popper can have
the greatest force pop on.