The aim of this experiment is to investigate the relationship of the height of the vertical drop and the horizontal distance traveled by an object when it rolls down a slope and experiences a free fall.

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Physics Investigation                Eugene Ng 12S

        

Ski Jump

Aim:

The aim of this experiment is to investigate the relationship of the height of the vertical drop and the horizontal distance traveled by an object when it rolls down a slope and experiences a free fall.

Introduction:

Ski jump is one of the events in the Winter Olympic. This sport event involves a steep ramp and a landing zone. The main aim of this sport event is that the skier has to travel as far as possible after leaving the ramp horizontally. It is the motion in the air and the range that the skier travels we are concerned with. This motion is called the projectile motion. The displacement, velocity and acceleration of the projectile are all vectors. The forces of the projectile motion can be treated separately. They can be resolved into horizontal and vertical components. They are independent of each other; that is, neither motion affects the other. In my experiment, I would create a similar model of the ski jump. I will use a plastic track as the slope and model the skier as a metal ball.

Method:

Firstly, I will have to set up the ramp in the right position. I am going to bend the ramp into a curved shape. I will hold up one end of the ramp by the clamp stand and the other end will be placed horizontally on the table. It is very important to place the end of the ramp horizontally because we have to ensure that the initial velocity vector has no vertical component: uy=0. In order to make sure that the end of the ramp is placed horizontally, I will clamp a ruler on the side of the table and the tip of the ruler will prevents the ramp moving forward. I will place a sand tray on the ground for the metal ball to land. I will release the ball in different heights in order to estimate the landing location of the metal ball. I will measure the distance from the ramp to the mark produced by the metal ball on the sand. We call the range the metal ball travels x. In order to make sure that the only variable in the experiment is the height of the vertical drop, I will release the metal ball at the same point on the curve track. I will also repeat the experiment for 5 times to calculate the average.

I would need to decide which point on the curve track I should release the ball. I will release the ball at the highest point of the track. This is because this can increase the time for the metal ball to accelerate and to leave the track with a higher velocity to produce a more significant mark on the sand tray. I will use a marker pen to mark down the point where I release the metal ball to make it a fair test. This will be the point where I release it everytime. I will change the height of the drop landing area after I repeat each of the level for 5 times. I will change it by putting books and magazine underneath the sand tray. The range of the height should be around 20cm to 80cm. It is usually hard to measure the h2 distance exactly, so it will be more or less ±1cm. The readings will be insignificant to obtain if the value of h is below 20cm or above 80cm because the time is either too short to measure or the distance is more then from the ground. I will also produce a graph while I am recording my results. A table and graph will also be produced in the end. Here is a diagram of the apparatus.

Another diagram in preventing the end of the ramp moving forwards:

Equipment:

Equipment:

Curved Track (ramp)

Metal Ball (Skier)

Paper tray

Blue Tac

Sand tray

Meter ruler

Marker pen

Clamp stand

G-clamps

Books and magazine

Boxes

Prediction:

Since I am using h2 as the variable, I will measure it from the point of the metal ball leaving the ramp. I predict that the bigger the h2 is, the further the ball will travel. Since the motion of the drop of the metal ball should be the same (theoretically, when air resistance is the same), the effect of h2 will have no effect to the horizontal motion. As h2 gets bigger, the time it takes the metal ball to travel in the air is longer and therefore, a longer distance should be travelled. Since the horizontal and vertical components are independent, we can treat vertical component by different calculations.

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Therefore I believe increasing the h2 will increase the time the metal ball travels in the air and therefore increase the distance. Figure 1 shows how the projectile motion can be separate into 2 components. The vx and vy indicates the horizontal and vertical velocity. Here are the calculations of the motion in my experiment:

Using: s= ut + 1/2at2

Substituting values into equation:

h2 = 0+ 9.8t2/2

Rearranging the formula gives:

t = √[(2h2)/a]

The horizontal and vertical components are being treated independently. As vy is 0, ...

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