Lab Questions
I. Was Air Resistance Noticeable?
X - Acceleration vs. Time Graph
|
Despite the fluctuating nature on display by the X - Acceleration (horizontal motion) of the basketball's path, the air resistance for the most part is negligible from the 0.2 to 0.4 time intervals. However, later through the shot it becomes as plain as day that yes, the air resistance in this system does play, at least to a degree, a role in this system. Overall, a line of best fit would show an air resistance affect on the projectile's motion to, at most, a slight deviation from what would have been the intended path, if any at all. An important piece of information to note is that of the following: had a system have no air resistance whatsoever, there would be a line of slope 0. |
II. Was Energy Conserved?
In this system, energy was conserved, it seems, despite a few lapses by the Tracker program in it's motion of the basketball. When the ball is still in the air and is in the main stage of it's travel through the air and into the hoop, the total energy in this system, as shown by the graph, remains at, or very close to 20 Joules of energy, during it's primary course that ran from about 0.23 to 0.73 time. This should be expected, however, disregarding any major failures by the program in it's tracking of the projectile in question. This has been stated in the Law of Conservation of Energy, where we see it specifically say that energy cannot be created, nor destroyed, but rather, converted to other forms of energy. In this system, the forms of energy that could have been converted to are heat and sound, though only minimally when compared to other, more prominent forms of energy in this lab, such as kinetic and potential energy. For the most part, energy was conserved, then.
Total Mechanical Energy vs. Time Graph
III. Was Momentum Conserved?
This graph is accounting for the total momentum of the system. This means that it includes both the X and Y directional components of the momentum of the basketball's motion through the air. If momentum had been conserved, then the graph would have shown the flat, lifeless line of slope 0... BUT WAIT! We must remember the Law of Conservation of Momentum, which states that in any system, momentum is never lost, but usually simply transferred to the ground as a result of gravity. While this graph may not show a constant rate, not decreasing, nor increasing, we know that the Tracker program must not have been able to clearly figure out the momentum values, as the video cuts short of the ball falling to the ground. The impulse, or change in momentum, of this system would have been 0 (conserved), barring Tracker's misidentifications.
|
Momentum vs. Time Graph
|