ADDIS ABABA SCIENCE AND

TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY

College of Natural and Social Sciences

Department of Physics and Statistics

General Physics Lab Report

Experiment № 1

Group 5
Members ID №
1. Abdilselam Abas ---------------------------------------- ETS0006/14
2. Abdurazak Muhedin ------------------------------------ ETS0020/14
3. Abdurahman Mohamed -------------------------------- ETS0021/14
4. Abdurezak Kemal --------------------------------------- ETS0022/14
5. Abdurhman Zakir --------------------------------------- ETS0023/14
6. Abduselam Sultan -------------------------------------- ETS0024/14
7. Abel Tessema ------------------------------------------- ETS0027/14
8. Abel Tadele --------------------------------------------- ETS0042/14
9. Bisrat Berhanu ------------------------------------------ ETS0181/14
Submitted to: Instructor Mengesha
Submitted on: Monday July 11, 2022
 Table of Contents
Content Page №
Title .................................................................................................................................... 1

Objective ............................................................................................................................ 1

Theory ................................................................................................................................ 1

Materials ............................................................................................................................. 2

Procedure ............................................................................................................................ 2

Data Recording ................................................................................................................... 3

Data Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 3

Questions and Discussions .................................................................................................. 4

Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 4

References .......................................................................................................................... 5
Title: Horizontal Projectile Motion

Objective

• To determine where a steel ball will land when released from a certain height on an inclined
ramp
• To calculate the horizontal range of a steel ball rolled down from an inclined ramp (track)
• To determine the deviation of the measured values from the anticipated or theoretical value
in percentage error

Theory
When a ball is thrown horizontally from a certain height, it will have a curved motion that
can be described as a combination of two straight line motions: one vertical motion and the other
horizontal motion. The motion in the vertical direction is a uniformly accelerated motion whereas
the motion in the horizontal direction is a uniform motion. These two motions are two independent
motions. The equation of motion in the horizontal direction is 𝑥 = 𝑈𝑥 · 𝑡, and the equation of
1
motion for the vertical direction is 𝑦 = 2 𝑔𝑡 2 , where 𝑥 is the horizontal distance travelled by the

projectile, 𝑦 is the vertical displacement of the projectile, g is the gravitational acceleration, and t
is the time of flight of the projectile.

In the experiment, a steel ball was rolled from an inclined plane, to a table, then projected
horizontally from the table to land a certain distance (called range) from the table on the ground.
It has been stated that the horizontal distance travelled by the projectile (range) is given by 𝑥 =
1
𝑈𝑥 · 𝑡, and the expression for the vertical displacement of the projectile is 𝑦 = 2 𝑔𝑡 2 . Rearranging

2𝑦
the latter formula and expressing it in terms of t gives us 𝑡 = √ . Since the initial velocity 𝑈𝑥
𝑔

depends on the release height ℎ, when the projectile rolls without friction, the gravitational
potential energy at the top of the inclined ramp will be equal to the kinetic energy at the bottom of
1
the ramp. That is, 𝑚𝑔ℎ = 2 𝑚𝑈𝑥2 . Solving this equation for 𝑈𝑥 , we will have 𝑈𝑥 = √2𝑔ℎ.

1
 2𝑦
Substituting 𝑡 = √ 𝑔 and 𝑈𝑥 = √2𝑔ℎ in the equation 𝑥 = 𝑈𝑥 · 𝑡 we get 𝑥 = 2√ℎ𝑦. This is the

theoretical or predicted value of the horizontal distance travelled by the projectile (steel ball) when
it rolls down an inclined ramp.

Materials

• Inclined ramp
• Meter tape
• Steel ball
• Carbon paper
• Sheets of white paper
• Table
• Plumb line

Procedure
1. The inclined ramp was placed on the table. The location at which the steel ball was released
was marked. That ensured the steel ball achieved the same velocity with each trial.
2. A plumb line was made by attaching a monofilament line and the string was held to the
edge of the table, and the spot at which the plumb line touched the ground was marked.
3. A runway of carbon and white papers was laid down. When the steel ball hit the carbon
paper, the force would transfer some of the ink to the underlying white paper and allowed
to pinpoint where the contact was first made.
4. The steel ball was released at the marked spot on the ramp.
5. The horizontal distance travelled from the plumb line to the first mark made was measured,
and the value was recorded in the data table.
6. Steps 4 and 5 were repeated for different release heights, and in each case was done three
times, and the values were recorded in the data table.

2
Data Recording
The table shown below shows the raw data collected which includes the following parameter:

Height of the table (𝑦) = 78 centimeters

Released from Actual Range (cm) Actual Average

Trial №
Height (cm) Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Range (cm)
1 5 31.5 31.0 30.5 31.0
2 10 44.0 44.1 44.2 44.1
3 15 48.0 48.3 46.5 47.6
4 20 56.0 57.5 58.3 57.3
5 25 70.0 69.0 68.8 69.3

Data Analysis

The table below shows the predicted value of the horizontal distance travelled (𝑥) by the steel ball,
the actual average horizontal distance travelled, and the percentage errors which are calculated
from the collected data.

To calculate the percentage error, use the following expression:

𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 – 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒

𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = ( ) × 100%
𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒

Actual Average Theoretical Percentage

Trial № Released from Height (cm)
Range (cm) Range (cm) Error
1 5 31.0 39.5 –27.4%
2 10 44.1 55.8 –26.5%
3 15 47.6 68.4 –43.7%
4 20 57.3 79.0 –37.9%
5 25 69.3 88.3 –27.4%

𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = −32.6%

3
Questions and Discussions
1. Discuss what the possible sources of error could have produced the deviation above.
✓ Personal error
✓ Static frictional force between the steel ball and the inclined ramp
✓ Air resistance
✓ When the ball reaches to the bottom of the incline, it hits and bounces off of the
horizontal plank instead of rolling smoothly and landing farther on the ground.

2. If air resistance were not present, would the steel ball land farther or closer to the table?
Explain why.
If air resistance were not present, the steel ball would land farther from the table
because air resistance is a type of frictional force, i.e., it opposes the motion of objects.
The net force that propels the steel ball away from the table is decreased due to the
amount of air resistance.

Conclusion

This experiment examined horizontal projectile motion. Some assumptions were made, such as:

• the horizontal velocity remains constant;

• the vertical velocity changes constantly due to gravitational attraction; and
• the range of the projectile can be predicted using the equations of uniform and uniformly
accelerated motion.

With those assumptions in place, an actual experiment was conducted, and the results were
recorded. Then they were compared to the theoretical ranges calculated by the formula. The
deviations were evident through the percentage errors. Possible reasons for that error were
outlined, as this might help in conducting a better experiment next time.

4
References
5.3 Projectile Motion. (2022). openstax™. Retrieved from

https://openstax.org/books/physics/pages/5-3-projectile-motion/

Drake, S. (1973). Galileo gleanings XXII: Galileo’s experimental confirmation of horizontal

inertia: Unpublished manuscripts, 291–305.