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POE Where Will It Go? Page 1

Where Will It Go?

Grade Level

10th-12th grade

Introduction

Have you ever shot a basketball or launched a pumpkin from a catapult system?Regardless of your experience launching objects through the air, it is important tounderstand that objects move in predictable patterns. A ball thrown in the air movesin a curved path until it strikes the earth. Using science, technology, innovation, andmath, we can analyze and predict where the ball will strike the ground.

To gain understanding of kinematics (i.e., the motion of an object), you arechallenged to create a device that can accurately launch a Ping-Pong ball at atarget.

Equipment

y Various building materials (Mouse traps, paper towel holder or PVC pipe,dowel rods, hot glue, foam core board or wood scraps for base, protractor,masonry line, etc.)

y Ping pong balls

y Tape measure

y

Excel

Procedure

Objective: To create a device that will toss a ball accurately within a given range.

Constraints:

y Must be able to fire a projectile (to be specified by the instructor) anywhere within5 ft to 15 ft operating range (design adjustability into your device)

y Must fit within a 1 ft x 1 ft footprint (in collapsed form)

y Cannot utilize high-pressure gases or combustible materials

y Must be constructed primarily out of materials that are found, not bought

y Must be sketched and approved by your instructor prior to building

Testing:

y Performance Testing (after completion of final assembly and adjustment)

o Choose at least ten firing angles between 10 and 80 degrees.o For each firing angle, fire the projectile and record the range.o Perform at least three trials for each firing angle.

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POE Where Will It Go? Page 2

o Record all procedures, tables, data, etc. within engineering journals.

y Final Testing

o The Ping-Pong ball must land in a five gallon bucket (the target) ata location specified by your instructor on the day of the test (andwithin the operating range).

o Each team will have three tries to hit the target.

Creating a Performance Sheet: Each team must create a three-fold flier thatincludes the following:

y Name of the device

y Team members names

y Sketch or drawing of the device

y Picture (digital image)

y Description of how device operates

y Summary of testing data and procedures

y Graph of firing angle versus range

y Other important information

Going Beyond

As a class create an interactive game utilizing your launching device (think golf,battleship, etc.).

Conclusion

1. Imagine that you are in a canoe and you want to paddle to the far side of a fast-moving river. Explain the motion the canoe will travel in the river in respect to afixed point on the shore.

2. A firefighter arriving at a fire discovers that she can only approach the fire toabout 50 feet. To what angle should she set the fire hose if the water pressurecan hold an initial velocity of 115 ft/sec and she needs to have the water enter a

second story window that is about 15 ft from the ground?