Você está na página 1de 2

Shot in the Dark

Picture the arc made by a baseball after it is hit out to center field or the path of a
stream of water in a drinking fountain. Both of these paths are approximately
parabolic. A parabola is a transformation of the equation

y=x 2 . In a physics

laboratory, we obtained data that describes the path made by a small steel ball
launched at an angle. With the aid of a camera and a strobe light, the path of the
ball was photographed and the position of the ball at various times was determined.
The data in Table 9 and in figure 12 describe the vertical position of the ball (in
centimeters) versus time (in seconds).
Table 9
Time
Positio
(sec)
n (cm)
0.00
0.00
0.05
18.2
0.10
33.7
0.15
46.9
0.20
57.6
0.25
65.0
0.30
70.8
0.35
74.1
0.40
74.6
0.45
72.7
0.50
68.3
0.55
61.7
0.60
52.1
0.65
40.1
0.70
25.5
0.75
8.6

Shot in the Dark


H 80
e
i
60
g
h
40
t
(
c
m
)

Time

20
0
0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

Time (sec)

In this problem, we want to determine a formula that fits figure 12 data by


transforming the power function

y=x 2

. Once we have the formula that

describes the vertical position, we can use it to find a graph and formula for the
velocity of the steel ball and finally the acceleration of the steel ball. Because the
point s given in the table comes from an actual experiment, they do not lie exactly
on the parabola.
1. Let examine the relationship between time and the vertical position of the
projectile.

a. Determine the point at which the ball is at its highest position. We


assume the point is the vertex of our parabola.
b. The vertex of

y=x 2

is at point (0,0). Transform this function so that it

has the vertex given by your answer from part (a). You will need to use
both a horizontal and vertical shift to do so.
c. Your function should now be of the form

y=a(xb)2 +c . To make it fit

the data find an appropriate factor a so that your function is of the form

y=a( xb)2 +c . To do so use the last point from the table, (0.75, 8.6),
plug it into your function, and solve for a. Rewrite your function using the
notation t (for time) as the input and p(t) (for position) as the output.
Graph your function along with the data.
2. Velocity is the rate of change of the position. If the vertical position of the
steel ball can be described with a parabola, then its vertical velocity can be
described with a line. Because the velocity function is a line, we need only
two points to determine a formula for velocity. We want to find the x and y
intercepts.
a. When the ball is traveling upwards, its velocity is positive, and when
the ball is traveling downwards, its velocity is negative. At what point
during the flight of the ball will the velocity be 0? At what time does it
occur? This point is the x intercept of our line.
b. Finding the y-intercept is more difficult that finding the x-intercept.
The y-intercept is when time is zero. In other words, the y-intercept is
the initial velocity. To find the initial velocity, we need to find the rate
of change in the position function close to the origin. Using your
position function from question 1, part (c), find two point very close to
the origin. Find the rate of change between these two points and use it
as your estimate of the initial velocity of the steel ball. This point is
the y-intercept of our line.
c. Use the x-intercept and the y-intercept from parts (a) and (b) to
determine the equation of the line describing the velocity, v(t).
3. Acceleration is the rate of change of the velocity. Because the velocity
function is linear, its rate of change will be constant. Therefore, the
acceleration function is a constant function. Find the equation for the
acceleration, a(t).
4. Describe the relationship between your three functions, p, v, and a.

Você também pode gostar