In our second project at STEM Marin, we made a video explaining the physics of a sports action. Our group chose the sport of archery. Archery is a sport in which competitors use bows to fire arrows at targets. Whoever shoots the arrow closest to the center of the target wins. Therefore, the accuracy an archer has when they fire an arrow is very important. In our archery setup, we shot from a ten meter distance at an archery target. After doing numerous physics calculations, we found that the most accurate way to shoot a bow and arrow is to pull back the bow string to its maximum potential.
In the creation of our video, we learned and increased our understanding of many concepts. Here is a list of a few of the concepts we learned about in order of the appearance in our video:
Force (F) - is a push or pull. To find the force acting on an object, you multiply its mass by its acceleration, Forces are measured in units called Newtons (N)named after Sir Issac Newton. In our video, we measured the force required to pull the bowstring at full potential and found it required 66.7 Newtons.
Potential energy (PE) - is energy due to the position of an object. There are two types of potential energy, gravitational potential energy and elastic potential energy. If an object is suspended in air 2 meters above the ground, it has gravitational potential energy. Gravitational potential energy due to gravity is measured by multiplying the mass of an object by the height of an object by the acceleration of the object due to gravity and is measured in Joules (J). If an object has energy due to the deformation/stretching of an elastic substance, it has elastic potential energy. It is calculated by multiplying the force of the elastic substance by the distance it is stretched. In our video we found that the elastic potential energy as a result of pulling the bowstring back was 28.68 Joules.
Velocity (V) - is speed in a given direction. To find speed, you divide the distance (D) an object traveled by the time (T) it took the object to travel to that distance, so we find velocity using the same procedure. The unit of velocity is meters per second (m/s). In our video, we found that the bow fires the arrow with a velocity of 55.56 meters per second.
Unit conversions - If we are presented with a unit in inches and we need it in meters, we can use unit conversions to convert the units into the units we need. In the case of inches to meters, we use the proportion of 1 inch to .0254 meters. In our video, after finding that the arrow's velocity is 55.56 meters per second, we used unit conversions to convert the velocity to 124 miles per hour.
Momentum (P) - is the quantity of motion for an object. Momentum is found by multiplying an object's mass by an object's velocity. The unit for momentum is kilogram meters per second (Kgm/s) When we shot an arrow we found that the momentum of the arrow was 1.027 kilogram meters per second.
Kinetic Energy (KE) - is energy due to motion of an object. If an object is in motion, it has kinetic energy. Kinetic Energy is measured in Joules (J). In our project we found the kinetic energy of an arrow flying through the air to be about 28.55 Joules.
Work (W) - is the force exerted on an object multiplied by the distance it is moved. The unit for work is joules (J). In our project, we calculated the work the arrow did after hitting the target by multiplying the force the arrow hit the target with by the distance the arrowwent through the target. We found the work to be about 82.16 J.
Impulse (I) - is the product of force and time. It is measured in kilogram meters per second (Kgm/s) and is equal to momentum. In our project, we found the impulse of the arrow hitting the target.
Here are some other concepts not showcased in our video that we learned about in class:
Acceleration (A) - is the rate velocity changes over time. Acceleration is measured in meters per second squared (m/s^2)In falling objects, acceleration is equal to gravity (9.8 m/s^2).
Friction - is the resistance between two things touching each other. Some examples of friction include rubbing objects against sandpaper and skydiving (air friction).
Projectile Motion - is the motion within a projectile. The components of projectile motion are vertical velocity and horizontal velocity. unlike common belief, they do not affect each other. Using the Pythagorean Theory, we can find total velocity of a projectile which is the combined forces acting on an object.
Although we did not spend as much time on this project as we did on the Rube Goldberg Machines, I enjoyed it almost as much. I liked my group a lot because we worked well together, stayed on task, and did everything to the best of our ability. We all tried our best and I believe that our end result showcases it. I also appreciated the fact that we got to choose our own sports to research. Without student input, I think we would have ended up with less interest in the project which would result in poor quality work. In this group, we had very good communication skills--we worked well together and we could get our points across to each other. We also worked very efficiently and got through our task quickly with good quality. Throughout this project, I gained two important skills: video editing and the planning ahead. Throughout this project, I became a decent video editor with Windows Movie Maker and I learned a lot about various file extensions, converting files, and incompatible programs. I also learned about the importance of planning ahead to be efficient.. The biggest challenges for our group (or at least for me as the video editor and producer) were technical issues and getting shots for our video. My computer is very old and as a result, I was limited to Windows Movie Maker 2.1 for Windows XP as opposed to most groups with the latest version of WMM. Because of this disability, our video was lacking in effects compared to others. It also kept crashing due to compatibility issues between my music production software and my file converters which almost quadrupled the editing time. Another challenge was getting all the right shots for our video. In order to showcase everybody in my group, I had to get a shot from every person from every angle. That totals to about 24 shots not including introduction, explanations, and outtakes. In the future, I need to work on dividing group work and bringing supplies. In our group, we didn't divide the work very evenly which was my fault because I took the lead and did most of the video. I also should have been more careful with our supplies (I lost an arrow) and we should have brought extras in the event an idiot like me lost an arrow :) For next time, I will remember to double check my calculations and divide group work evenly. In our video, we accidentally said a few numbers wrong due to incorrect calculations, so I will remember to double check my work.I will also work on playing a more passive role and not taking on all the work alone.
Overall, this project was a fun way to improve qualities in myself, learn about physics, learn video editing skills, and much more.
Force (F) - is a push or pull. To find the force acting on an object, you multiply its mass by its acceleration, Forces are measured in units called Newtons (N)named after Sir Issac Newton. In our video, we measured the force required to pull the bowstring at full potential and found it required 66.7 Newtons.
Potential energy (PE) - is energy due to the position of an object. There are two types of potential energy, gravitational potential energy and elastic potential energy. If an object is suspended in air 2 meters above the ground, it has gravitational potential energy. Gravitational potential energy due to gravity is measured by multiplying the mass of an object by the height of an object by the acceleration of the object due to gravity and is measured in Joules (J). If an object has energy due to the deformation/stretching of an elastic substance, it has elastic potential energy. It is calculated by multiplying the force of the elastic substance by the distance it is stretched. In our video we found that the elastic potential energy as a result of pulling the bowstring back was 28.68 Joules.
Velocity (V) - is speed in a given direction. To find speed, you divide the distance (D) an object traveled by the time (T) it took the object to travel to that distance, so we find velocity using the same procedure. The unit of velocity is meters per second (m/s). In our video, we found that the bow fires the arrow with a velocity of 55.56 meters per second.
Unit conversions - If we are presented with a unit in inches and we need it in meters, we can use unit conversions to convert the units into the units we need. In the case of inches to meters, we use the proportion of 1 inch to .0254 meters. In our video, after finding that the arrow's velocity is 55.56 meters per second, we used unit conversions to convert the velocity to 124 miles per hour.
Momentum (P) - is the quantity of motion for an object. Momentum is found by multiplying an object's mass by an object's velocity. The unit for momentum is kilogram meters per second (Kgm/s) When we shot an arrow we found that the momentum of the arrow was 1.027 kilogram meters per second.
Kinetic Energy (KE) - is energy due to motion of an object. If an object is in motion, it has kinetic energy. Kinetic Energy is measured in Joules (J). In our project we found the kinetic energy of an arrow flying through the air to be about 28.55 Joules.
Work (W) - is the force exerted on an object multiplied by the distance it is moved. The unit for work is joules (J). In our project, we calculated the work the arrow did after hitting the target by multiplying the force the arrow hit the target with by the distance the arrowwent through the target. We found the work to be about 82.16 J.
Impulse (I) - is the product of force and time. It is measured in kilogram meters per second (Kgm/s) and is equal to momentum. In our project, we found the impulse of the arrow hitting the target.
Here are some other concepts not showcased in our video that we learned about in class:
Acceleration (A) - is the rate velocity changes over time. Acceleration is measured in meters per second squared (m/s^2)In falling objects, acceleration is equal to gravity (9.8 m/s^2).
Friction - is the resistance between two things touching each other. Some examples of friction include rubbing objects against sandpaper and skydiving (air friction).
Projectile Motion - is the motion within a projectile. The components of projectile motion are vertical velocity and horizontal velocity. unlike common belief, they do not affect each other. Using the Pythagorean Theory, we can find total velocity of a projectile which is the combined forces acting on an object.
Although we did not spend as much time on this project as we did on the Rube Goldberg Machines, I enjoyed it almost as much. I liked my group a lot because we worked well together, stayed on task, and did everything to the best of our ability. We all tried our best and I believe that our end result showcases it. I also appreciated the fact that we got to choose our own sports to research. Without student input, I think we would have ended up with less interest in the project which would result in poor quality work. In this group, we had very good communication skills--we worked well together and we could get our points across to each other. We also worked very efficiently and got through our task quickly with good quality. Throughout this project, I gained two important skills: video editing and the planning ahead. Throughout this project, I became a decent video editor with Windows Movie Maker and I learned a lot about various file extensions, converting files, and incompatible programs. I also learned about the importance of planning ahead to be efficient.. The biggest challenges for our group (or at least for me as the video editor and producer) were technical issues and getting shots for our video. My computer is very old and as a result, I was limited to Windows Movie Maker 2.1 for Windows XP as opposed to most groups with the latest version of WMM. Because of this disability, our video was lacking in effects compared to others. It also kept crashing due to compatibility issues between my music production software and my file converters which almost quadrupled the editing time. Another challenge was getting all the right shots for our video. In order to showcase everybody in my group, I had to get a shot from every person from every angle. That totals to about 24 shots not including introduction, explanations, and outtakes. In the future, I need to work on dividing group work and bringing supplies. In our group, we didn't divide the work very evenly which was my fault because I took the lead and did most of the video. I also should have been more careful with our supplies (I lost an arrow) and we should have brought extras in the event an idiot like me lost an arrow :) For next time, I will remember to double check my calculations and divide group work evenly. In our video, we accidentally said a few numbers wrong due to incorrect calculations, so I will remember to double check my work.I will also work on playing a more passive role and not taking on all the work alone.
Overall, this project was a fun way to improve qualities in myself, learn about physics, learn video editing skills, and much more.