Rubber Band Lab

Constants/Variables

Constants

• Height of Release (60cm from the ground)
• Length of extension of the rubber band (25cm)
• Use of the same rubber band for the entire experiment

Variables

• Angle of Release (from 0 degree to 75 degrees with 15 degrees increments)

Apparatus

Measuring tape, Ruler, Protractor, Rubber band

Method

1. Set down the measuring tape first.
2. Measure each of the angles of release with protractor, from 0 degree to 75 degrees.
3. Release it at 60cm from the ground with an extension of 25cm.
4. Repeat it three times for each angle.
5. For each angle, if the data is considerably higher or lower than the other measurements, ignore it and do it once more to obtain more accurate data.

Data Collection & Data Analysis

Conclusion & Evaluation

As you can see from the graph, releasing the rubber band at an angle of 45 degrees provides the greatest distance, we can call the optimum. It gradually increases from 0 degree and at 45 degrees, has the greatest distance, and it decreases afterwards. The reason why the rubber band travels the furthest at an angle of 45 degree is because it is closer to the parabolic curve.

During the experiment, certain measurements were really off the mark. For example, when measuring for the angle of 15 degrees, a result of 6 meters was recorded while the probable range was near 4 meters. There is no clear explanation for that but it seems that the release strength may not have always been constant.

It is also possible that during the experiment some settings like height and angle of release may have been inadvertently modified by the operator. It would therefore be advisable to do more than 3 trials for each release angle in order to obtain more accurate data.