Video analysis is a powerful tool for analyzing motion. Your cell phone is capable of collecting position and time data at 30 (and in some cases up to 240) frames per second. This practical introduces students to video analysis using a tool called Tracker.
Aim:
Projectile motion describes the motion of an object that is thrown near the Earth’s surface and moves along a curved path under the action of gravity. The only force acting on the object is due to gravity, which causes a downward acceleration. In the horizontal direction there is no acceleration consistent with the concept of inertia.
In this lab, you will investigate projectile motion through frame-by-frame analysis of a video clip.
Apparatus:
In order to create the video file for analysis, a recording was made of an object thrown in front of a marked grid. The object thrown in the recording is a foam golf ball. The video capture device is an iPhone camera set to record at 30 frames per second.
Theory:
The relationship between vertical displacement, time, initial velocity and acceleration due to gravity for an object, falling close the the Earth’s surface is given by:
At the same time, the relationship between horizontal displacement, time and velocity is given by:
Analysis:
Your analysis must be submitted to me as described below. This work should:
Show the results for the experiment in a suitable raw data table and graph. Include comments based on qualitative observations.
Example raw data table:
Example raw data graph:
Process the raw data in a meaningful way. Present the processed data in the form of a suitable graph. Analyze the relationship by determining the slope of the best-fit line. Interpret the processed data and determine the acceleration of free-fall. Compare the value of free-fall that you found to a literature value based on your data booklet.
Example processed graph:
Share your analysis with me by submitting the Google Classroom assignment when you are complete.
Your document should include data tables and graphs inserted from Google Sheets.