Projectile Motion and Ballistic Pendulum

Description

The purpose of this experiment is to determine the initial velocity of a projectile (ball) by using a ballistic pendulum and to study projectile motion.You will investigate;

• The relationship between kinetic energy and potential energy in a ballistic pendulum system
• The initial velocity of a projectile launched horizontally by analyzing the projectile motion (projectile motion)
• The horizontal distance travelled by a projectile launched at an angle above the horizontal (projectile motion)

Ballistic pendulum is a device to measure the initial horizontal velocity of a projectile (ball). It is used to investigate the principles of conservation of momentum and conservation of mechanical energy. By the collision, the pendulum (M) and ball (m) swing up to a maximum height. The apparatus records the maximum angle (θ) corresponding to maximum height. The initial horizontal velocity (v) of the ball is given by;

where, R_CM is the distance from the pivot point to the centre of mass (CM) of the pendulum. Students can also use the projectile launcher to study Projectile Motion. The position (x) of such an object at any time (t) is given by a set of the horizontal and vertical coordinates.