Projectile Motion

Computer Modeling of Projectile Motion

Location of Spherical Projectile
25.0

20.0

15.0 Y-Position (m)

10.0

5.0

0.0 0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0

-5.0 X-Position (m)

Frequent User Inputs

Launch Angle (degrees) Launch Velocity (m/s) Diameter of Projectile (m) Density of Projectile (kg/m^3) Fluid (Wind) Velocity (m/s)

Less Frequent User Inputs

Density of Fluid (Air) (kg/m^3) Kinematic Viscosity of Fluid (Air) (m^2/s) Acceleration of Gravity (m/s^2) Timestep (sec)

Prepared by G.W. O'Leary and R.J. Ribando

Projectile Motion

ing of Projectile Motion

Plot Scaling
100 25

Delay =

0.1

80.0

90.0

100.0

45 30 0.05 8000 0

1.19 1.54E-05 9.8 0.1

Prepared by G.W. O'Leary and R.J. Ribando

Computed Data

Computed Variables Rhobar 0.00014875 Amass 1.00007438 Bgrav 9.79854225 Ccoef 0.00223125

Time (sec) 0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00 1.10 1.20 1.30 1.40 1.50 1.60 1.70 1.80 1.90 2.00 2.10 2.20 2.30 2.40 2.50 2.60 2.70 2.80 2.90 3.00 3.10 3.20 3.30 3.40 3.50 3.60 3.70 3.80 3.90 4.00 4.10 4.20 4.30

Computed Results Position X Y (m) (m) 0.0000 0.0000 2.1178 2.0689 4.2287 4.0332 6.3329 5.8935 8.4307 7.6502 10.5221 9.3037 12.6074 10.8546 14.6867 12.3032 16.7602 13.6500 18.8281 14.8952 20.8905 16.0393 22.9475 17.0825 24.9993 18.0253 27.0460 18.8678 29.0876 19.6104 31.1244 20.2534 33.1564 20.7970 35.1836 21.2414 37.2062 21.5870 39.2242 21.8339 41.2376 21.9824 43.2465 22.0327 45.2509 21.9850 47.2509 21.8396 49.2463 21.5966 51.2373 21.2563 53.2238 20.8188 55.2058 20.2846 57.1832 19.6536 59.1560 18.9263 61.1241 18.1029 63.0875 17.1835 65.0462 16.1685 67.0000 15.0582 68.9488 13.8529 70.8926 12.5528 72.8313 11.1583 74.7648 9.6697 76.6930 8.0873 78.6158 6.4115 80.5330 4.6427 82.4446 2.7813 84.3504 0.8277 86.2504 -1.2178

Velocity

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Computed Data

mputed Results Velocity Horizontal Vertical (m/s) (m/s) 21.2132 21.2132 21.1433 20.1651 21.0754 19.1221 21.0094 18.0840 20.9454 17.0506 20.8832 16.0217 20.8227 14.9969 20.7639 13.9762 20.7068 12.9592 20.6511 11.9459 20.5968 10.9360 20.5439 9.9294 20.4922 8.9259 20.4416 7.9253 20.3922 6.9275 20.3436 5.9324 20.2959 4.9398 20.2490 3.9498 20.2027 2.9621 20.1569 1.9767 20.1116 0.9936 20.0665 0.0126 20.0217 -0.9661 19.9770 -1.9426 19.9322 -2.9169 19.8874 -3.8890 19.8423 -4.8589 19.7969 -5.8264 19.7511 -6.7916 19.7048 -7.7543 19.6580 -8.7145 19.6105 -9.6720 19.5623 -10.6268 19.5133 -11.5788 19.4635 -12.5277 19.4128 -13.4736 19.3611 -14.4162 19.3085 -15.3555 19.2548 -16.2912 19.2001 -17.2233 19.1443 -18.1516 19.0874 -19.0760 19.0294 -19.9963 18.9702 -20.9124

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Computed Data

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Sample Data for Alternative Projectiles

Type Beach Ball Nerf Ball Kickball Ping Pong Ball Soccer Ball Basketball Tennis Ball Softball Baseball Water Balloon Golf Ball Shotput Mass (kg) 0.0960 0.0125 0.5630 0.0023 0.4370 0.5950 0.0560 0.1840 0.1440 0.5230 0.0460 6.8100 Diameter (m) 0.3800 0.1050 0.2700 0.0400 0.2200 0.2400 0.0650 0.0950 0.0700 0.1000 0.0440 0.1176 Volume (m^3) 0.0287309 0.0006061 0.0103060 0.0000335 0.0055753 0.0072382 0.0001438 0.0004489 0.0001796 0.0005236 0.0000446 0.0008514 Density (kg/m^3) 3.341 20.623 54.628 68.636 78.382 82.202 389.448 409.872 801.807 998.856 1031.338 7999.030

All diameters and masses are approximate. Most of these are not exactly smooth spheres, and some are deformable.

Disclaimer

This collection of worksheets was developed for the Session on Projectile Motion and Computer Modeling, presented at the 1997 Summer Institute of the Southeastern Consortium for Minorities in Engineering, Inc. held at the University of Virginia June 15 - June 26, 1997. It is based on Program 1.4 in An Introduction to Computational Fluid Dynamics by Chuen-Yen Chow, Wiley (1979) R.J.Ribando, 310 MEC, Univ. of Virginia, June 1997 Copyright 1997, All rights reserved. This program may be distributed freely for instructional purposes only providing that: (1) The file be distributed in its entirety including disclaimer and copyright notices. (2) No part of it may be incorporated into any commercial product.

DISCLAIMER The author shall not be responsible for losses of any kind resulting from the use of the program or of any documentation and can in no way provide compensation for any losses sustained including but not limited to any obligation, liability, right, or remedy for tort nor any business expense, machine downtime or damages caused to the user by any deficiency, defect or error in the program or in any such documentation or any malfunction of the program or for any incidental or consequential losses, damages or costs, however caused.

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Tech Details (1)

Some Technical Details (1)

If we are willing to ignore the effect of drag on the projectile, the equations that gove of a simple, spherical projectile simplify greatly - to the point thaqt we dont even need a com solve them. But a computer or even a graphing calculator does provide a convenient means o the solution.

For those cases involving uniform acc ele ration (which it will be shown later is appro air drag is neglected), the distance traveled is simply the average velocity times the ela psed tim

Distance = Velocity ave rage x Time

The average velocity is given by:

Velocity average = (Velocity initial + Velocity final ) / 2

The acceleration is the change in velocity over the elapsed time (and is assumed uniform here

Acceleration = (Velocity final - Velocity initial ) / Time

Solve this for the final velocity:

Velocity final = Velocity initial + Acceleration x Time

Combining the first, second and fourth equations:

Distance = Velocity initial x Time +

1 Acceleration x 2

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Tech Details (1)

ails (1)

projectile, the equations that govern the flight t thaqt we dont even need a computer to es provide a convenient means of visualizing

ich it will be shown later is appropriate when rage velocity times the ela psed time:

ge

x Time

al

+ Velocity final ) / 2

me (and is assumed uniform here):

- Velocity initial ) / Time

+ Acceleration x Time

Time +

1 Acceleration x Time 2 2

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Tech Details (2)

Some Technical Details (2)

In order to determine the trajectory of our idealized spherical projectile, well apply Second Law:

F= ma

that is, the force is equal to the mass times the acceleration. Well include the force due to gr that is, the weight, but will ignore air drag for now. Forces and velocities are both vector qua is, they have both magn itude and direction. (The state trooper is interested in your speed, wh magnitude of your velocity, but if you are trying to get somewhere in particular, your velocity Well resolve forces (and accelerations and velocities) into components in the x (horizontal) a (vertical) directions and apply Newtons 2 nd law separately to each.

Since we have ignored air drag, there are no forces in the x (horizontal direction), th horizontal a cceleration is identically 0.0. That mea ns the horizontal velocity (U) will be cons equal to the initial value Uinitial . The horizontal position is then given by:

X = X initial + U initial x Time

In the y (vertical) direction, we consider only the force due to gravity:

= ma y = - mg ,

that is, the acceleration in the vertical direction is equal to -g (9.8 m/s2 in the metric system, 3 the English system. With this uniform acceleration, the vertical velocity (V) is then given by

V = Vinitial - g x Time
Finally the vertical position is given by:

Y = Yinitial + Vinitial x Time -

1 g Time 2 2

The initial velocity components specified in these equations can be found from simple trigono

U initial = Velocity initial x Cosine(Angle initial ) Vinitial = Velocity initial x Sine(Angle initial )

The equations for X and Y are easily input to a graphing calculator in this parametric form so trajectory can be visualized as a function of time, launch velocity (Velocityinitial ) and launch an (Angle initial ).

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Tech Details (2)

ails (2)

d spherical projectile, well apply Newtons

Well include the force due to gravity here, and velocities are both vector quantities, that er is interested in your speed, which is the where in particular, your velocity is key.) omponents in the x (horizontal) and y o each.

n the x (horizontal direction), thus the rizontal velocity (U) will be constant and hen given by:

ce due to gravity:

(9.8 m/s2 in the metric system, 32.2 ft/s2 in ical velocity (V) is then given by:

me 2

can be found from simple trigonometry:

le initial ) )

ial

culator in this parametric form so that the ocity (Velocityinitial ) and launch angle

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Tech Details (3)

Some Technical Details (3)

The model of projectile motion developed on the previous sheet, while convenient fo implementation on a graphing calculator, ha s some obvious problems. Air drag was ignored consequence, we found that contrary to intuition, the horizontal velocity stays at its initial va never decreases. Furthermore, the vertical velocity just keeps getting more a nd more negative downward) with time; that is, it never reaches a terminal velocity. To rectify this problem w include the force due to the drag of the air on the spherical projectile. Our experience tells u will be more important for a light sphere, e.g., a beach ball, and less so for heavy projectiles l put.

The air drag model and the solution algorithm implemented in this spreadsheet are f explained in An Introduction to Computational Fluid Dynamics by C.Y. Chow, (Wiley, 1979 few highlights are presented here. First of all, this is a 2-D model only - no hooks, slices or c allowed. The drag force depends on the velocity of the projectile relative to the wind, which to have only a horiz ontal component and acts opposite to the relative wind. Experimental da drag coefficient of a smooth sphere are used. This function Cdrag implements curve fits for The accelerations in the x and y directions at each point in time are computed in the functions and FYoverM, respectively. Unfortuna tely with the extra terms involving the air drag, the t governing equations cant be solved directly (they are a set of two non-linear, ordinary differe equations). So we use a numerical technique called Runge-Kutta integration which ha s been implemented in the subroutine Kutta . All the heavy-duty calculations (the functions Cdrag, FyoverM and the subroutine Kutta) were all implemented behind-the-scenes in Visual Basic f Applications and are automatically invoked when the user hits the Compute/Plot button on th

In addition to the main sheet, which includes boxes for user input and shows the traj graph ically, another sheet reports the computed x and y positions and the horizontal (u) and v velocity components as a function of time. Another sheet gives some approximate data for va common spherical projectiles which the user may want to test.

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Tech Details (3)

ails (3)

evious sheet, while convenient for problems. Air drag was ignored and as a ntal velocity stays at its initial value and s getting more a nd more negative (heading ocity. To rectify this problem we must rojectile. Our experience tells us that drag and less so for heavy projectiles like a shot

emented in this spreadsheet are fully mics by C.Y. Chow, (Wiley, 1979). Only a model only - no hooks, slices or curveballs ectile relative to the wind, which is assumed relative wind. Experimental data for the Cdrag implements curve fits for this data. me are computed in the functions FXoverM erms involving the air drag, the two f two non-linear, ordinary differential Kutta integration which ha s been calculations (the functions Cdrag, FxoverM, hind-the-scenes in Visual Basic for ts the Compute/Plot button on the main sheet.

for user input and shows the trajectory ions and the horizontal (u) and vertical (v) ves some approximate data for various t.

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