ANGLE VS. RANGE
IN A PNEUMATIC CANNON

Introduction | Method | Data | Conclusion | Bibliography | Research Page

the post-date wrap-up.

For the most part, our results were consistent with our hypothesis. Forty-five degrees shot our projectile the farthest distance most consistently and the distance seems to drop off at all the angles greater and less than forty-five degrees. However, our farthest shot was at thirty degrees. Perhaps there was slightly more than sixty psi in the chamber on this shot.

the report.

The graph of the average distance each angle projected the golf ball is basically what we predicted. We expected the seventy-five degree angle to shoot the ball further than it did. We aren’t exactly sure as to why the cannon did not fire the ball further at this angle. There were a number of possible errors that could have occurred during this experiment, but they should have been consistent throughout the whole experiment. We conducted our experiment under quite cold conditions which could have had an affect on the amount of pressure in the chamber. Also, it was hard to keep the cannon in exactly the same spot after each launch, so there could have been slight variations in the angle. To add, this also meant that the trajectory of the ball was not always straight, although it stayed quite close to the string we laid on the ground. We got more accurate readings of how far the ball launched the closer it stayed to the string. Throughout our experiment there were probably slight variations in the amount of pressure we filled the chamber with even though we stayed as close to 60 psi as we could. Turning the ball valve also turned out to be quite hard sometimes in the cold weather, so perhaps sometimes not all the air was released at once. Other errors that were out of our control were air resistance, wind, temperature and uneven terrain.

the conclusion.

This experiment could be improved in many ways to reduce the margin of error. A heavy stand could be constructed that would hold the cannon in exactly the same place for all trials and still allow for angle adjustments. The experiment should probably be conducted under moderate conditions somewhere with little or no wind resistance and on a level surface. Perhaps the ball valve could have been greased or a new method for releasing the air into the barrel could have been used to achieve a more consistent release of air.