CatchtheRichard

Intro
:CanyoucatchtheRichard?RichardhasstolenJosephsbaconbits.Afteralong,epicchase
RichardsucceedsineludingJoseph.Richardisaslyindividualandhasdecidedtohideoutinsideof
histreehouse.Fortunately,JosephisawareofRichardsschemeandheadsonovertostophim.
Josephhasatranquilizer,andamazingaim.Richardisagile,butheiscornered,Richarddecidesthat
ifhejumpsatthesametimehefiresJosephisboundtofail!Joseph,however,hasextensive
knowledgeofphysics,thankstoMrs.Uzzisclass,andhemanagestohitRichardsquareinthe
forehead.WhydidthedarthitRichard?Gravityactsonboth,thedartandRichard!

Purpose:
Thepurposeofthislabistocalculatetheinitialvelocityofavelcrodartafterthedarthas
beenreleasedfromrest.

PreliminaryQuestions:
1. Aflowerpotfromarooftopgardenfallsofftheedgeoftheroofandfallspastthewindowbelow.
Airresistancemaybeignored.Theflowerpottakes0.448stotravelbetweenthetopand
bottomofthewindow,whichis1.70mhigh.Howfarbelowtheroofisthetopofthewindow?
2. Aobjectislaunchedovergroundlevelat37m/satanangleof34degreesabovethe
horizontal.Airresistanceisnegligible.(a)whatisthetimeofflightofthisprojectile?(b)Whatis
thevelocity(magnitudeandangle)ofthisprojectile1.5safterlaunch?
3. A0.8kgballisthrownat57degreesabovethehorizontalat19m/sfromthehotairballoon
whentheballoonis35mabovetheground.Theballoonistravellingupwardataconstant
velocityof1.5m/s.Whatistherange?

Materials:
Meterstick
Felt
VelcroDart
WoodenBackboard
OneNail
Weightstoholddownbackboard
ElasticString
RubberBand
SewingKit
RegularString(two30cm,one60cm,andone150cm(orlonger))
PhysicsKnowledge
SlowMotionRecordingDevice
Aknowledgeableinstructorandtrustworthypartners

Procedures:
MakingtheFeltRichard:
1. Usingyourartisticabilities,designacreativeRichardoutoffelt.
2. TakeyourcustomdesignedRichardandsewitontothefoamsheet.Dontforgettosewor
gluethreemetalwashersontothebackofthefoamsheet.

Figure 1: An exact image of Richard made out of felt.

BackboardAssembly:
1. Wrapthethickrubberbandaroundthebackboardhandlesothatitstretchesarounditsend.
Twisttherubberbandthreeorfourtimeswithyourfingerssothatthetophandistwisted
towardyouandthebottombandistwistedawayfromyou(whenyoulookatthefrontofthe
handle).Whileholdingthetwistedrubberband,insertthenailbetweenthetwistedbandsinthe
middleofthehandle.
2. Whenreleasingthenail,itshouldspringbacksothattheheadofthenailispressedagainst
thebackboardandthepintendisextendedout.ifitshouldrotateintheoppositedirection,
removethenail,andtwisttherubberbandintheoppositedirection.Figure2willshowthe
layout

Figure2:Visualdiagramofwhatthebackboardshouldlooklike.

SettinguptheDartLauncher:
1. Placeheavyobjects(books)onthebackofthewoodenbackboardtopreventthelauncher
fromfallingasyoupullonthestringstolaunchyourvelcrodart.EXTREMELYIMPORTANT.
Failuretodothisstepcanpotentiallyinjuresomeone.
2. Takeyour150cm(orlonger)stringandtieoneendontotopofthenail.Asyoupull,thiswill
holdyourcustomdesignedRichardonthetopofthewoodenbackboard.
3. Takethe60cmstringandtieittothebackboardhandle,makingsurethatthestringis
centered.Takeyourelasticbandandtieittotheendofthe60cmstring.Nowuseyour30cm
stringandtieittotheotherendoftheelasticband.Nowontheotherendofthe30cmstring,
tiethevelcrodart.Thentakeyourother30cmstringandtieittothetotheotherendofthe
velcrodart.Infigure3,itwillshowyouthecorrectsetupforthedartlauncher.

Figure3:Setupmechanismforthedartlauncher

LaunchingtheDart:
1. Onceyourlabsetupiscomplete,simultaneouslypullboththestringsasatriggerwithone
handandletgoofbothstringsatthesametime.Donotforgettokeepthemonkeyinplaceat
thetoppriortothelaunch.
2. Dothisseveraltimessothatyoucanhitthemonkeyconsistently.Measurethehorizontal
distance(R)thedarttravelstohitthemonkey(makingsurethisisconsistenteverytimeyou
launch).Alsomeasuretheheight(H)ofthemonkeywhenitsreleased.Weusethis
informationtofindtheangle.Wealsoneedthedistance(Y)whenthemonkeygetshitbythe
dart,sojusteyeballthat.Tomakeitmoreaccurate,completeatleast10trials.Figure4will
showthevaluesthatareneededtocalculatetheinitialvelocity.

Figure4:Showsthevaluesthatisnecessarytofindtheinitialvelocityofthedart.

Data
Trails

Thechangeindistance(Y)themonkeytravelsbefore
gettinghitbythedart.(m)

Average:

H=Totalheightofwhenthemonkeyisdropped.
R=HorizontalDistance
Y=Thechangeindistancethemonkeytravelsbeforegettinghitbythedart.

AngleofElevation:
tan()=(H/R)

1
=tan
(H/R)

2
y
=y
+v
(t)+a
(t
)

f
i
oy
y
2
y
=y
+(0)(t)+(g)(t
)

f
i
2
y
y
=g(t
)
f
i
2
y=g(t
)
2
2Y/g=t
2
(t
)=(2Y/g)
t=(2Y/g)

2
r
=r
+v
(t)+a
(t
)

f
i
ox
x
2
r
r
=v
(t)+(0)(t
)
f i
ox
R=v
cos()(t)

v
= __________
R______________
o
1
(2Y/g)*cos(tan
(H/R)

PostLabQuestions:
1. IfthedarthitstheboardabovetheRichardeverytime,whatwouldyouchangetomakeithit?
2. IfoneweretoincreasethevelocityofthedartwoulditstillhittheRichard?Why?
3. Deriveanexpressionforthedartsmaximumheightintermsoffundamentalconstants,
,and
v
o.

Conclusion:
Restatethepurpose,analyzeresults,andlistpossibleerrorsandstatewhattodoto
reducetheerrors.