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Projectile motion on an inclined misty surface: I. Capturing and analysing the trajectory
S Y Ho1,3 , S K Foong2 , C H Lim1,4 , C C Lim1 , K Lin1,5 and L Kuppan1,2
1 Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, 1, Nanyang Walk, 637616, Singapore 2 Natural Sciences and Science Education, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, 1, Nanyang Walk, 637616, Singapore

Abstract Projectile motion is usually the rst non-uniform two-dimensional motion that students will encounter in a pre-university physics course. In this article, we introduce a novel technique for capturing the trajectory of projectile motion on an inclined Perspex plane. This is achieved by coating the Perspex with a thin layer of ne water droplets that allows the projectile to leave a trail as it passes. The experiment was eld-tested in Singapore and the response was very good.

Introduction
Projectile motion is usually the rst nonuniform two-dimensional motion that students will encounter in a pre-university physics course. On the basis of their experience in everyday life, such as from watching football and baseball games, most students are able to ascribe the parabolic shape to the trajectory of a projectile. Their laboratory experiences with projectile motion are usually limited to watching class demonstrations or pre-recorded stroboscopic videos of projectile motions. Consequently, students rarely have an opportunity to carry out a systematic study in order to appreciate the relationship between parameters of the projectile (such as angle of projection, initial velocity) and both the range and the maximum height of the motion.
3

Present address: Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 1A7, Canada. 4 Present address: World Scientic Publishing Co. Pte Ltd, 5 Toh Tuck Link, 596224, Singapore. 5 Present address: Jesus College, Cambridge University, UK.

To achieve the above, an experiment is designed to capture the full trajectory of the projectile motion in order for students to study these relationships. While video cameras and digital cameras have become common and cheaper, aligning the cameras to capture the full path of the projectile on its two-dimensional plane is not easy at all. Moreover, measurements of actual distances on the captured images may also be a challenge. In this article, we introduce a logistically simpler and inexpensive alternative inspired by the cloud chamber. Essentially, instead of launching the projectile in a vertical plane, it is launched up along an inclined Perspex plane which is coated with a thin layer of ne water droplets. The projectile, which is a steel ball, slides and leaves a trail as it passes. Although there have been many diverse studies on the subject of projectile motion in physics education literature (see [114]), we are not aware of any student experiment that uses a similar technique.
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inclined plane

and setting x = R/2 in equation (3) gives the maximum height H of the projectile as

y u

trajectory x
R

H=

u2 2g

sin2 .

(5)

Preparation for the experiment

Figure 2 is a photograph of the actual experimental setup and it shows the material and equipment needed for the experiment. The main items are: (a) A Perspex sheet as the inclined plane. (Width: 650 mm; height: 500 mm.) (b) A 1 cm interval grid printed on sheets of white paper. (c) An enlarged half-protractor (0 90 ) printed on white paper. (d) A small steel ball-bearing (about 10 mm in diameter) as the projectile. (e) A press-down type of ball-point pen as the launcher. (f) A small piece of copper foil. (g) A device which can be used to coat a thin layer of ne water droplets on the Perspex. We have been using a steam sanitizer (steamer) for this purpose. A junior college which has adopted this experiment uses a water sprayer instead. We have independently veried that this also produces good results. The layout is as shown in gure 2. Extra caution is required when handling the weights which are near the edge of the table and directing the steamer away from the body when it is in operation. The grid and the protractor have been designed to allow measurements to be made easily. The launcher can be improvised using other equipment. In our case, the press-down type of ball-point pen and ball-bearing setup give a typical launching speed of about 1.5 m s1 .

Figure 1. Projectile motion on an inclined plane.

A brief review of theory

If air resistance is negligible, the motion of a projectile in a vertical plane can be modelled using constant horizontal velocity and constant vertical acceleration due to gravity g . Its trajectory is a parabola. Likewise, a projectile on an inclined plane can be modelled using constant horizontal velocity and the component of g along the inclined plane given by

g = g sin
where is the angle of elevation of the inclined plane, as illustrated in gure 1. If friction is negligible and the projectile slides freely on the plane, its trajectory is again a parabola. In other words, the projectile motion on the inclined plane is effectively the usual projectile motion in a vertical plane in space but with a diluted gravity. If we x the origin, and the x and y axes on the inclined surface as shown, then at any instant of time t after the projectile is launched with initial velocity u at an angle of projection to the x axis, the position of the projectile on the inclined surface is given by

x = (u cos )t, y = (u sin )t 1 g t 2 . 2

(1) (2)

By eliminating t from equations (1) and (2), we obtain the equation for the parabolic trajectory which is

Procedure
(1) Clean the Perspex sheet so that it is free of dirt and stains, to reduce friction. Set the angle of inclination of the Perspex sheet at about 40 , as shown in gure 3. (This angle of inclination is found to make use of the board area in an optimal wayif the angle is more gentle, the ball might be shot beyond the length of the board; if it is too steep, the full length of the board is not used.)
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y = (tan )x

1 2

g u 2 cos2

x 2.

(3)

On setting y = 0, the non-zero solution of equation (3) gives the range R of the projectile as

R=
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u2 g

sin 2,

(4)

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Projectile motion on an inclined misty surface: I

Figure 2. Photograph of the actual experimental setup. The pen launcher, which is held by hand in the actual experiment, is taped onto the board for illustration purposes.

(2) Fill the steamer with water, let the water boil and then direct the jet of steam from the sanitizer at the surface of the Perspex from a distance of about 5 cm away until a thin and even layer of ne water droplets covers the whole surface of the Perspex. Note that excessive heat from the steam will cause the Perspex to bend. (3) When the ball-bearing is launched, it leaves its trail as it passes on the surface of the Perspex, showing the trajectory of the projectile motion as shown in gure 4. The values of R and H can then be read off the scale. (4) The surface of Perspex is wiped clean with tissue paper, a new layer of steam is applied and a new launch is repeated with a different angle of projection. Alternatively, another trial can be made and the two trajectories can be compared.

condensation on Perspex surface

track left by steel ball

x
R

Figure 3. A schematic sketch of the experimental set-up.

4% difference. The initial velocities obtained from gures 5 and 6 are 1.45 m s1 and 1.48 m s1 respectively.

Discussion
The setup has been designed with a grid on the Perspex and an enlarged protractor to make measurements easy and accurate. The values of the correlation coefcient squared are very close to 1. This suggests that the experimental data follow the form of equations (4) and (5). This is further supported by the consistent values of the initial velocity obtained from gures 5 and 6. The design of the experiment fulls the objective of allowing students to study the relationship between the angle of projection and both the range and the maximum height of the motion with relative ease. This experiment was used in a eld-test in Singapore involving a total of 169 students
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Results
To verify equations (4) and (5), we plot R against sin 2 in gure 5 and H against sin2 in gure 6. The data are least squares tted. The squares of the correlation coefcients for the ts are respectively 0.9915 and 0.9991. As expected from the equations, the gradient obtained from gure 6 is about half that of gure 5, to within
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Figure 4. A typical track left by the steel ball-bearing on the Perspex surface.

= 40 0.4 y = 0.3331x + 0.002 R2 = 0.9915 0.3 0.12 0.2 0.08 0.1 0.16

= 40 y = 0.1731x + 0.0018 R2 = 0.9991

0.04

0.0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

0.00 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

Figure 5. The range R as a function of angle of projection. From equation (4) and the gradient of the graph, the initial velocity of the projectile is 1.45 m s1.

Figure 6. The maximum height H as a function of angle of projection. From equation (5) and the gradient of the graph, the initial velocity of the projectile is 1.48 m s1.

taking GCE (General Certicate of Education, Cambridge) A-level physics and 13 teachers from two junior colleges. It was also introduced to about 50 teachers in an in-service course, in 2007 and 2008. Surveys were carried out and the response was very good. The analysis and results have recently been reported in [15]. In a sequel to this paper [16] motivated by enhancing students experience, a simple modication to the experiment and an extended analysis of the angle of projection to hit any target placed on the surface of the inclined plane are presented. A senior teacher adapted the experiment for use in his school. He captured the trajectory using carbon paper instead of the thin coat of ne water droplets used here. The carbon paper used should
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be of the soft variety meant for duplicating handwritten work rather than the hard type meant for typewritten work. The trail on the carbon paper would also be clearer if the steel ball was of larger mass (more than 4 g) than the 10 mm diameter one used in the experiment. Also, using carbon paper requires a smaller angle for the inclined plane. Our setup is less limited in these respects and allows a greater range of parameters for the projectile motion to be used.

Conclusion
Our idea of capturing the trajectory using a thin layer of ne water droplets on a Perspex grid has been proven to be logistically simple and economical in the case of projectile motion on
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Projectile motion on an inclined misty surface: I an inclined plane. The measurements can also be easily and accurately obtained. This concept can also be easily extended to other physics experiments where measurements of the trajectory are required to test a physical theory or model. We believe that such experiments will greatly enhance the learning experience.
[16] Foong S K, Lim C C and Kuppan L 2009 Projectile motion on an inclined misty surface: II. Scoring a goal Phys. Educ. 44 258
S Y Ho is currently a PhD student at the University of Toronto, Canada, and his area of research is in quantum many body physics. Before this, he taught at Hwa Chong Junior College and headed the physics unit. One of his interests is in nding ways to simplify the teaching of difcult concepts in physics. S K Foong is an associate professor in natural sciences and science education at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He obtained his PhD in physics from the University of Texas at Austin under the supervision of Professor Bryce DeWitt. His research interests include theoretical and interdisciplinary physics as well as physics education. C H Lim obtained his MSc degree from the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, in 2003. He worked as a teaching assistant for the pre-university physics programme (SM2) at the Institute before joining World Scientic as an editor in 2004. C C Lim taught physics in high school in the early 1980s. He obtained his masters degree in civil engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), USA, and then worked as a civil engineer in the area of geotechnical and transportation engineering for 16 years before joining the National Institute of Education, Singapore, in 2004. K Lin is an associate consultant working for a management consultancy Analysys Mason, specializing in telecommunications. He graduated from Cambridge University with an MSc in physics, and was a research and teaching assistant in Cambridge University and in Harvard University. He carried out a brief research assignment at the Institute of Physics, China Academy of Sciences, as an exchange/visiting student. L Kuppan is an academic associate at the Republic Polytechnic, Singapore, and carries out problem-based learning through the One Day, One ProblemTM method. His research areas include science education and quantum physics. He recently obtained a PhD degree for his thesis in quantum eld theory from the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
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Acknowledgment
This research was funded by a grant (CRP 49/03 FSK) from the Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Received 31 July 2008, in nal form 5 December 2008 doi:10.1088/0031-9120/44/3/004

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