AP Physics 1

Unit 5 – Ballistic Pendulum Lab

Name: Tison
Partners: Oscar, Ray, Bradon
Period: 1
3/5/2023

Intro:
In this lab, we are going to verify that whether the equation of conservation of energy
and the conservation of total mechanic energy give the same results as the equations
of two-dimensional motion by comparing the initial velocity of the ballistic projectile:
1.various measurements on the projectile motion, such as range and the vertical
height
2. through the use of the ballistic pendulum.

Materials
 ballistic pendulum
 steel ball
 meter stick
 digital scale
 carbon paper
 white A3 paper

Procedure
The ballistic pendulum apparatus consists of three parts:
(1) a ballistic spring-loaded gun for the firing of the projectile (a metal ball)
(2) a hollow pendulum bob suspended by a light rod for catching the fired
projectile, and
(3) a metal rod that shows the angular displacement of the pendulum bob at its
highest point.
Notice that the initial velocity of the projectile can be changed by adjusting the spring
tension. You will use the second “notch” from the barrel of the gun.
(Warning: You should not change this tension for the trials because you want the
muzzle velocity to be the same in each trial.)

A. Projectile Motion
1. Set-up the ballistic spring gun so that it will fire the projectile ball horizontally
off the edge of the table.
2. Clamp the apparatus to the table so that the apparatus does not move due to
the kick when firing the gun.
3. Move the pendulum out of the way (and have one lab partner hold it there).
4. Fire the gun once to see the general area where the projectile ball lands.
5. Tape a piece of A3 paper to the floor where the projectile ball landed in step 4
and then place a piece of carbon paper on top of the A3 paper.
6. Be careful not to hit anything or anybody with the ballistic projectile. Use
boxes to prevent losing the projectile ball.
 7. Measure the height of the barrel from the floor taking care to measure the
height of the lap table and then adding the height from the top of the lab table
to the center of the hole in the barrel.
8. Measure the horizontal displacement of the projectile ball from the mark on
the A3 paper to the barrel of the gun.
9. Repeat the experiment for a sufficient number of trials (10) and calculate an
average.
10. Calculate the initial velocity of the projectile ball after taking the appropriate
measurements using what you learned about projectile motion.

Launcher
Table
ball

Carbon
paper

B. The Ballistic Pendulum

1. Do not try to take the apparatus apart, the instructor will give you the mass of
the pendulum.
2. Fire the projectile ball into the pendulum bob and mark the final angle of the
pendulum.
3. Repeat the experiment with a sufficient number of trials (10) so that you can
calculate an average angular displacement.
4. Measure the length of the arm of the ballistic pendulum and be careful to
measure to the center of the cup where the projectile ball is caught.
5. Calculate the vertical displacement of the ballistic pendulum between its
lowest and highest points (using trigonometry).
6. Calculate (using conservation principles) the initial velocity of the projectile
ball.

Ballistic
pendulum
launcher ball
balance

table

Data

1. Projectile motion
 table height: 105.5cm
 distance from table to paper (y-axis): 257.3cm
 D average 0.0925m

2. Ballistic pendulum
 Length of the arm: 24.5cm
 Mass of the ball: 11.7 g
 Pendulum mass 0.1462kg

Degree average: 16

Analysis

Projectile motion
Find the time for the ball to hit the ground for y axis by using the equation

1.05=0*t-1/2*-9.8*t2
t=0.47*s
and then we plug the time value to the equation
∆x
v= to find the initial velocity of the ball
∆t
0.0925+257.3
V=
0.47
V=587cm/s=5.87m/s
The ballistic pendulum
In this case, we need to find the vertical position in order to obtain the magnitude of
the potential energy, in this way, we can determine the kinetic energy of the ball.
First, we use
l∗cos(θ¿) ¿
So
cos ( 16 )∗24.5=23.55cm
24.5-23.55=1.07cm=0.011m
By using this magnitude, we can then find the kinetic energy by using the
conservation of energy.

1
mgh= m v 2
2
 (0.011+0.1462) *9.8*0.011=0.5*0.1579*v2
V=0.47m/s
m1v1+m2m2=(m1+m2) v
0.0117*vi+0.146*0=0.1579*0.47
V=6.32m/s
1. Percentage difference
6.32/5.87=1.076=7% changes
2. kinetic energy is not conserved, we can know this by comparing the KE
before and after
KE before = KE ball + KE arm = (0.0118*5.832+0.1461*0=0.2J
KE after = KE ball + arm = (0.0118+0.1461) *0.4362
KE before is bigger than 0.069, so kinetic energy is not conserved during the collision

3.Lost = (0.03-0.2)/0.2*100%=-85%
4. the kinetic energy is lost during the collision, but it is normal since the
collision is perfectly inelastic.

Question
At the ballistic both kinetic energy and the momentum should be conserved
because there are no external force acting on the object, and during the
experiment, the momentum should be conserved by transfer to another object
according to the law of conservation of momentum, however, the kinetic
energy will lost during the collision because the collision is perfectly inelastic.
After the collision, both momentum and the kinetic energy will lost because
external force such as gravity, and air resistance.
2. The collision will be determined as inelastic
3. According to our group’s calculation, only 15% of kinetic energy will be
transferred to the kinetic energy of combination of ball and pendulum.
Kinetic energy will be transferred to other type of energy such as thermal
energy.
4. By calculate the maximum heigh the ball can reach, we can determine
whether the ball can hit the ceiling.
Vt=Vi+at
0=5.93-(9.8) t
T=0.61s
Maximum vertical height
X=Vi*t+1/2*a*t2
= (5.93) *0.61+1/2*9.8*0.612
=3.62-1.8
=1.34m
As a result, the ball cannot reach the ceiling because the ceiling is 2.5
meter high, but the maximum height the ball can reach is 1.34m
5. It can determine the time the ball take to reach the ground, and this will
affect the horizontal distance that the ball can reach.
6. The air resistance will decrease the velocity of the ball, and this will
decrease the magnitude of the result, because it will affect the final
distance the ball will reach.