Practical 3 Distance Traveled by a projectile
Introduction
In this experiment students project a ball from a ball launcher at different angles. The ball lands on a piece of carbon paper lying on top of a sheet of normal paper, this leaves a mark. The angle is plotted against horizontal displacement. The aim of this experiment is to increase the students understanding of uncertainties and to practice curve plotting with "Graphical Analysis".
Assessment
This practical isn't used for assessment but it is marked according to the criteria and students are given feedback.
Feedback is given on the following criteria
DCP
Students should collect data in a table that should contain headings units and uncertainties. Decimal places in the data should be consistent with the uncertainties quoted.
A best fit sine curve should be plotted using graphical analysis, the graph should be labeled correctly and include error bars
CE
Students should comment on the angle that gives maximum displacement and identify the weaknesses in the method. Possible ways of improving the experiment should be given. If students improved the method whilst doing the experiment this should also be noted.
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