Milo Harris

Preston Olander
Evan Darling
Kai Pfeuffer
Mr. Keller
Honors Conceptual Physics Delta
9/26/2022

End vector: 12.62@265 degrees West (12.62@185 degrees)

Distance away from the accurate final vector end point: 140 cm

Lab 1 Procedure Lab Report

Introduction
In this lab, our guiding question was to deduce whether our group will be able to calculate the direction and magnitude of vectors outside of the school building and to
what degree of accuracy. With the help of limited materials and the use of mathematical equations such as trigonometry (including sine, cosine and tangent), inverse
trigonometry (arc sine, arc cosine and arc tangent) as well as pythagorean theorem and basic algebra, we completed this lab. During this lab we applied the course
domain “Use mathematics and computational thinking”. We did this by testing our vectors’ accuracy through converting all of the vectors from polar form to
component form. To do this we had to use the formula: sin(𝜃)=𝑉𝑦/𝑉 to find the component form y value of our vectors and the formula: cos(𝜃)=𝑉𝑥/𝑉 to find the
component form x value for our vectors. In order to find our final displacement vector in component form, we then added all the vectors together. To do this we used
the algebra equations: Vy=(y1+y2+y3+y4+y5) and Vx=(x1+x2+x3+x4+x5). To complete our experiment, we translated our displacement vector from component
2 2 −1
form to polar form. To do this we used the pythagorean theorem, 𝑣𝑦 + 𝑣𝑥 = V, then used arc tangent, 𝑇𝑎𝑛 =(vy/vx), to get the angle of our final vector. This is
how we used mathematics and computational thinking in our lab. The other domain that we completed while doing this lab is the “Analyzing and interpreting data”
when we identified and quantified our vector’s error. When we did our lab, we needed to know how accurate our measured vector was, so we verified our recorded
data from the lab with the tip to tail graphing method and analytical algebraic method. For example, when we calculated all the vectors analytically, we found the
completely accurate (to no degree of error) vector and from this vector we checked how accurate our original vector was. This is how we analyzed and interpreted
data.
Variables
Independent: Our independent variables include all of the vectors that we measured starting at the 2nd base of the baseball diamond/the origin of our graph.
Dependent: Our dependent variables are how far away we are from the correct end point (error), and the vector that we get from the origin to the end point that we
found.
Constants: Our constants were the materials that we used to measure each vector, the procedure that we used, and the people in our group that did each part of the
procedure.
Hypothesis
We hypothesize that we will be able to measure the distance and magnitude of vectors outside of the school building using our limited materials and mathematical
skills to an accuracy of within 1 meter and 20 degrees of the correct vector. We believe this because our procedure will not make up for human error. Naturally, there
will be some mistakes made that will lead to an incorrect measurement. Especially because we are measuring 5 different vectors, there will be a lot of room for error.
This leads us to believe that 1 meter and 20 degrees is a reasonable margin for error because it is not a huge amount of error but it leaves room for mistakes.
Materials:
● Tape measure (For measuring magnitude of vector)
● Meter stick (For checking the accuracy of our magnitude measurements)
● Compass App (For measuring direction of vector)
● Marking flags (To mark the beginning and end of our vectors)
● Thin rope (To guide each vector’s measurements and to
● Paper (For recording the results of our final vector)
● Pencil (For recording the results of our final vector)
Lab Procedure:
1. We went to the origin marked with the pink flag (2nd base on the baseball diamond)
2. We used the compass app on Iphone to measure the angle at which our vector is pointing by placing the phone on the ground next to the flag and
adjusting
3. Once the angle was found, we measured (with a tape measure) the distance of the vector.
4. Once the distance was found, we aligned the tape measure with the phone, so that the angle was accurate.
5. We placed a flag at the correct distance of the tape measure
6. We repeated this process with all of the vectors on the half sheet from each endpoint of the last vector
7. After all vectors were plotted, we measured the distance of our final flag placement to the “treasure”, or accurate point, to calculate our error.
8. Finally, we measured the distance and angle between our final flag placement and the origin (2nd base plate on the baseball diamond) by doing the same
procedure we did to find all of our other vectors.

Photos of Lab Procedure:

1. In this image above, the measure of direction for a vector is being calculated using the digital compass app on an iphone. The iphone is being lined up
with the pink string (indicating the vector) in order to accurately measure direction.

2. In the photograph above, the process of measuring direction and magnitude can be seen, as well as the division of tasks among the group members.

3. Above, our final vector’s direction and magnitude to the origin is being calculated with string.
 4. In this image above, we are calculating our percent error from our final vector point to the accurate final vector point using a meter stick and marking
flags.
Data and Analysis
The following are our vectors graphed during our lab :
Inside parentheses are the cardinal directions, outside the parentheses are on a coordinate plane.

Vector 1 3 meters @340 degrees (20 degrees South of East/110

degrees)

Vector 2 5 meters @90 degrees (0 degrees North)

Vector 3 4 meters @150 degrees (30 degrees North of West/300

degrees)

Vector 4 7 meter @180 degrees (270 west)

Vector 5 11 meters @250 degrees (70 degrees south of west/ 210

degrees)

Final vector from Lab Experiment V=12.62 @185 degrees (5 degrees South of West/ 265
degrees)

Final vector (tip to tail method) V= 12.5 @ 202 degrees (22 south of west/ 268 degrees)

Final vector (Analytically) V=12.21 @201 degrees (21 degrees south of west/ 249
degrees)

Photo of our final vector using tip to tail method (graphically):

Analysis of data: In this example above, we used a protractor and ruler to measure the direction and magnitude of our vectors. From the end of one vector, we drew
the second vector and so on until our 5th vector was graphed. From the origin of our graph to the 5th vector, we measured a displacement vector and found its
direction and magnitude.

Photo of our final vector (analytically):

Analysis of data: To find the correct vector analytically there were many steps involved.
For each of the vectors we had to change them from component form to analytical form. To do this we used the formulas listed here
1. sin(𝜃)=𝑉𝑦/𝑉 to find the component form y value of our vectors
2. cos(𝜃)=𝑉𝑥/𝑉 to find the component form x value for our vectors
Then we had to add all the x’s to all of the x’s and all of the y’s to all of the y’s with these formulas
1. Vy=(y1+y2+y3+y4+y5)
2. Vx=(x1+x2+x3+x4+x5)
Once we had our added vectors this was the component form of the final vector, and we had to change it to polar form using these formulas
2 2
1. 𝑣𝑦 + 𝑣𝑥 = V= the final vectors length
−1
2. 𝑇𝑎𝑛 =(vy/vx)= the angle of the final vector.

Error Analysis
Because we measured 5 vectors, there were a lot of things that could’ve gone wrong to produce inaccurate data. The most likely things that would have skewed our
data specifically were inaccurate flag placing and bending/curving in the tape measure. We avoided inaccurate flag placing by measuring exactly where to put the flag
with meter sticks. Although more tricky, keeping the tape measure flat and straight was the solution we applied to our bending problem.
Conclusion
Our final vector we got during the procedure was V=12.62 @185 degrees (5 degrees South of West/ 265 degrees), which isn’t too far off from what we got using the
tip to tail method V= 12.5 @ 202 degrees (22 south of west/ 268 degrees), and adding the vectors analytically V=12.21 @201 degrees (21 degrees south of west/ 249
degrees). We hypothesized that we could accurately measure the vectors to a meter and 20 degrees because while we had solutions to our possible errors, nothing is
perfect, and so our hypothesis was correct.