An Inexpensive Mechanical Model for Projectile Motion

• Autores: David Kagan
• Localización: The Physics Teacher, ISSN 0031-921X, Vol. 49, Nº. 5, 2011, pág. 265
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • As experienced physicists, we see the beauty and simplicity of projectile motion. It is merely the superposition of uniform linear motion along the direction of the initial velocity vector and the downward motion due to the constant acceleration of gravity. We see the kinematic equations as just the mathematical machinery to perform the calculations. What do our students see? Likely, most see no deeper than the operational understanding needed to use the kinematic equations. Described below is a device (shown in Fig. 1) that illustrates the physicists view of projectile motion. It can be used as a classroom demonstration or as a project for your students, and it costs less than three dollars to make