What is the best angle to throw an object if you want to maximize the distance thrown?
That is the question we have been attempting to answer this week, as we learn more about the Javelin event! This week we engaged in some investigations designed to help us figure out what angle is best.
You predicted that either 40 or 45 degrees would be the ideal angle to throw an object. But what did our experiments show?
In thinking about our experiments with firing the rubber bands, what observations did you make? What surprised you about the experiment? what about the experiment seemed to make sense to you? What problems or "variables" do you think may have affected our results?
Post your comments in response.
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Einstein: What a Joker!
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Einstein: What a Joker!
3 comments:
One of the things that surprised me was that the rubberbands went really high. what REALLY surprised me was how the rubberbands would continue to roll once they hit the ground. That sometimes made it hard to figure out the exact distance, unless you were watching closely for the exact spot where the RB hit the ground.
What made sense to me is that when we used angles "around" 45 degrees that the RB went the farthest.
Some variables that I think may have affected the results are: wind, rain (light), and temperature.
I think the cold weather caused the RB to contract, making it less stretchy (although, it was still pretty stretchy).
I think some wind could make the RB go off course, or stop or accelerate.
Also, the rain could make cause some resistance, because the drops might hit the RB and cause it to fall to the ground quicker.
Also -- gravity is a variable. Only, its not really a variable because the force of gravity is actually constant.
I think what surprised me most is that 45 degrees wasn't always the best angle to fire the rubberband. It could have been that we were holding the ruler wrong, or that the protractor was getting in the way.
I also noticed that the distance traveled by the Rubberband was also affected by WHO was firing it. Even though we tried to stretch the rubberband the same length each time (9") it still seemed different.
Even though 45 degrees didn't necessarily propel the rubberband the farthest -- I definately noticed that there was a pattern to all the angles we tried. Did you guys notice the pattern on the scatter plot when we graphed our results? I did!
I observed that the angles of 40degrees and 50 degrees ended up sending the rubberband the same distance, and that they were both five degrees away from 45, which I think is the best angle for distance.
What surprised me is that the type of rubberband we used seemed to make a big difference. If its a longer rubberband it seems to go farther. A smaller rubber band doesn't seem to go as far, even when firing it at the same angle.
It also surprised me that there are a lot of variables that can affect the results, such as: the wind, the size of the rubberband, the angle, how far back you pull the rubberband, etc.
What made sense to me is that the farthest was somewhere between 40 and 50 degrees.
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