Horizontal Velocity and Free

Fall, Partners or Strangers?

Group Lambda
Group Leader: Corbin Osborne
Johnny Thach
Michael Morris
 Purpose?
 The purpose of this project is to find out if
horizontal velocity plays a part in how long it
takes an object to hit the ground from a certain
height.
 Intro and Background
 The idea for this experiment comes from the
question of whether a bullet fired from a gun
horizontally takes longer to hit the ground than
a bullet which is dropped at the same height.
Topics and Methodologies
2-D Kinematics
Free Fall Motion
Kinematic Equations
Calculating Uncertainties
Fractional Uncertainties
Good Graphing Skills
 Predictions
Using the kinematic equations for the vertical direction
and our knowledge about free fall motion theoretical time
can be found from a specific height.

1
yf = yi + vf (t ) + ay (t 2 )
2
yi= 0.9m yf= 0m 1

− yi = (ay )(t 2 )
 vi= 0 m/s vf= ? 2
− yi
 ay= -9.8m/s2 t= ? = t2
1
(ay )

2
− yi
= t = 0 .4 s
1
( ay )
2
 Experiment
A Ping Pong ball is used to simulate a bullet.
A rubber band slingshot is used to simulate a
gun.
Constant Height (0.9m)
Varied Velocity

List of Equipment
Ping Pong Ball
Mechanism for launching ball with marks for
varying velocities
Meter Stick
2 Stopwatches
Tape
Chair
 Procedure
A chair is used to keep the launcher at a
constant height and horizontal.
Muzzle velocity at each mark is determined
Shot ball at each velocity measuring time.
Drop ball with no horizontal velocity.
Graph Velocity vs Time data.

 Data
Launcher Horizontal δD (m) Time, t (s) δt (s) Velocity, v δv (m/s)
Mark Launch (m/s)
Distance, D
(m)

1 0.50 0.05 0.3 0.2 2 4

2 0.75 0.05 0.3 0.2 3 4
3 0.95 0.05 0.3 0.2 4 4
4 1.45 0.05 0.3 0.2 7 4
5 1.60 0.05 0.3 0.2 7 4
6 1.80 0.05 0.3 0.2 8 4
Graph of Data
 Conclusions
Our original calculations for the amount of time
it would take the ball to hit did match our
experimental value for time given the
estimated uncertainties.
The muzzle velocity did not effect the time it
took the ball to hit the ground.
So we can conclude the bullet fired from a gun
horizontally would hit at the same time as the
dropped bullet.