This is a place holder experiment idea.
Drop a ping pong ball in front of a screen grid, collect a movie while the ball falls.
Develop software that on a frame-by-frame basis, determine the location of the ball
Calibrate the position of the ball using the grid, estimate position uncertainty
Determine the time between frames of the camera. estimate the time uncertainty
Plot the ball position versus time, using error bars
Fit this data to the equation X = X0 - g*t/2,
where X is the position of the ball,
X0 is the starting position,
g is the acceleration due to gravity,
time is the time.
Does the measurement match the theory? Why or why not?
What complicating factors may be involved?
What if a heavier ball is used? (Add weight to a ping pong ball to keep the same shape)
What if a flat board is dropped?
What if a fan blows air upwards while light weight ping pong ball falls?
Drop a ball in a
Try rolling ball down an inclined ramp. It goes slower, why?
- BTW, this is what Galileo did
Does air resistance have an impact when the ball rolls slowly?
Two dimensional motion (shoot ball sideways).
Drop a ping pong ball in front of a screen grid, collect a movie while the ball falls.
Develop software that on a frame-by-frame basis, determine the location of the ball
Calibrate the position of the ball using the grid, estimate position uncertainty
Determine the time between frames of the camera. estimate the time uncertainty
Plot the ball position versus time, using error bars
Fit this data to the equation X = X0 - g*t/2,
where X is the position of the ball,
X0 is the starting position,
g is the acceleration due to gravity,
time is the time.
Does the measurement match the theory? Why or why not?
What complicating factors may be involved?
What if a heavier ball is used? (Add weight to a ping pong ball to keep the same shape)
What if a flat board is dropped?
What if a fan blows air upwards while light weight ping pong ball falls?
Drop a ball in a
Try rolling ball down an inclined ramp. It goes slower, why?
- BTW, this is what Galileo did
Does air resistance have an impact when the ball rolls slowly?
Two dimensional motion (shoot ball sideways).