Parm & Natdanai

IP10 Physics
Predicting Object Position with Kinematic Equations
Natdanai Luangwaranan and Parm Chitrakorn
Lab Completed on 23/9/22
Lab Report Completed on 3/10/22

Introduction
In the act of projectile motion, it is stated that an object dropped from rest and another
object that is slid off the resulting in a forward motion, assuming that both objects are dropped
from the same height and that there is no air resistance the amount of time it takes for the object
to land will be the same. This piece of information will be applied to a ball rolling off a table so
that the distance that the ball travels can be calculated prior to the actual ball being rolled off and
measured (assuming no air resistance.) The basic information that should be known prior to this
experiment are the kinematic equations and how to incorporate them into objects in motion that
have an additional force of gravity. The kinematic equation that was used is
1
∆𝑥 = 𝑉𝑖∆𝑡 + 2
𝑎∆𝑡2 and this equation is modified to be the version used for equations that
1
involve gravitational acceleration. The modified version is ∆𝑦 = 𝑉𝑖∆𝑡 − 2
𝑔∆𝑡2, with ∆𝑦
being the value for height and 𝑔 being the value for gravitational acceleration which is 9. 81 𝑚/𝑠
2
.Hence the plus sign (+) becomes a minus sign (-) due to the downward forces of acceleration.

A ramp and a box is used to set up an inclined plane in which a plastic ball will be rolled
down the ramp from a marked position to another marked position. The set up should look like
something of a similar
manner to Figure 1. A
phone camera will be used
to record the ball’s time
from its initial position to
its final positional position.
This will be done 5 times
resulting in 5 experimental
values of time. Using the
time values and the
constant distance value
(which is the distance between the two marked positions), the average velocity will be found.
These values will then be used to predict the position of the ball once it falls off the table through
the usage of kinematic equations. That position will be marked and a video camera will be used
to check the correctness of the prediction/ hypothesis.

Hypothesis

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IP10 Physics
It is hypothesized based on collected experimental data that the ball would land roughly
42.7 cm away from the edge of the table.

Materials
● Wooden Ramp ● Marker
● Plastic Ball ● Calculator
● Phone camera* ● Pencil
● Flat table ● Notebook
● Tape *The phone’s camera should be able to
● Cardboard Box show the time value with 2 decimal places
for maximum precision.

Procedure
1. Construct the inclined plane by putting the provided Ramp onto a cardboard box which
should both be on a table.
2. Measure the distance between the marked spot on the table and the marked spot on the
ramp. This value will be your 𝑑 or ∆𝑥 value.
3. Prepare your video camera so that the marked point on the ramp and the marked point on
the table are both visible.
4. Acquire your plastic ball and roll it down the ramp carefully from the marked position so
that it rolls in a straight orderly line.
5. Stop the record shortly after the ball has rolled past the marked spot on the table.
6. Go through the videos that have been collected and note down the moment of time that
the ball rolled down the ramp, which will be referred to as initial t and the point where it
reached its marked position, which will be referred to as final t.
7. Subtract the final t with the initial t to find the time value for that trial (∆𝑡Trial #)
8. Repeat step 3 to 7 four more times which should be a total of five trials.
9. Calculate the initial velocity with the four time values all added up together added and
∆𝑡1+∆𝑡2+∆𝑡3+∆𝑡4+∆𝑡5
divided 5 ( 5
) for the average time value and the distance value (𝑑) that
𝑑
was recorded earlier using the velocity formula 𝑉1 = ∆𝑡
.
10. Use the acquired values to find the hang time of the ball falling off the edge of the table.
1
This is done by rearranging this kinematic equation (∆𝑦 = 𝑉𝑖∆𝑡 − 2
𝑔∆𝑡2) to where
the ∆𝑡h is the value being solved for.
∆𝑥
11. Once the ∆𝑡h is solved for rearrange the velocity equation (𝑉𝑖 = ∆𝑡ℎ
) to find the ∆𝑥
that the ball will roll off once it slips off the edge of the table. The acquired value will be
in meters per second so be sure to convert it to centimeters.
12. Mark the acquired ∆𝑥 value on the floor with tape.

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IP10 Physics
13. Prepare a video camera to record the accuracy of the guessed value.
14. Repeat step 4 three more times.

Data & Observations

Table 1. The initial, final and averaged time values of all trials are displayed.
Time values (s) Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 Trial 5

Initial time 3.64 s 3.98 s 2.76 s 2.95 s 3.71 s

value
(∆𝑡i )

Final time 4.06 s 4.40 s 3.14 s 3.34 s 4.10 s

value
(∆𝑡f )

Averaged time 0.370 s 0.420 s 0.380 s 0.390 s 0.390 s

value
(∆𝑡trial number)

Calculations

Example Calculation for a Trial’s Vi (Ball’s Initial Speed) Using Trial 1

Recorded Information: ∆𝑥 = 44.62 cm
∆𝑡1 = 0.37 s

∆𝑥 44.62 𝑐𝑚
Vi 1 = ( ∆𝑡1 ) → Vi 1 = ( 0.37 𝑠
)= → Vi 1 ≈ 121 cm/s

Equation used for Average Speed

𝑉𝑖1 + 𝑉𝑖2 ... 𝑉𝑖5 1𝑚
Viavg = ( 𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑠 ) × ( 100 𝑐𝑚 )

Table 2. Displays the calculated average speed and height

Average speed (m/s) Height of Table ∆𝑦 (m)

1.1 m/s 0.748 m

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IP10 Physics
Calculations used for Estimated Ball Distance

For Hangtime (Total time)

1 −2(∆𝑦)
∆𝑦 = 𝑉𝑦𝑖∆𝑡 − 2
𝑔∆𝑡2 → ∆𝑡2 = 𝑔
(Rearranged for Hangtime)
−2(0.748𝑚)
∆𝑡 = 2 → 0.388s
9.81 𝑚/𝑠

Estimated For Estimated Ball Distance

100 𝑐𝑚
∆𝑥 = 𝑉𝑥𝑖 × ∆𝑡 → 1. 1 𝑚/𝑠 × 0. 388𝑠 → 0.427 m × ( 1𝑚
) = 42.7 cm

Figure 2: The ball’s position once dropped off the table and landed on that floor in the same manner, on
the 1st trial.

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IP10 Physics
Figure 3: The ball’s position once dropped off the table and landed on that floor in the same manner, on
the 2nd trial.

Errors
The possible source of error in this experiment may be derived from human errors as the
procedures are not strictly followed which will result in inaccurate measurements and
calculations. For example, one might put the tape at different distances from where they wanted
to be which might further misreport their results. Another possible source of error could be that
in the formula that was used does not involve air resistance but during the experiment, air
resistance was present which might have altered the results.

Conclusion and Analysis

The hypothesis turned out to be as expected as the result is very close to the calculated value, but
the numbers might have changed a bit due to the presence of air resistance that was mentioned in
the previous part. With this information, we can conclude that air resistance does have an effect
on an object’s motion. If this experiment was about to be conducted again, using a formula that
includes air resistance is recommended as it is more accurate but it also requires more knowledge
and deep understanding of the subject.

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