2D Motion
Objective
In this experiment your goal is to make a video of a steel sphere rolling on the floor at an angle to the x-axis, as shown below, and analyze the video to determine the ball’s x-velocity, y-velocity, and total velocity.
Resources
- Phone or digital camera
- Tracker Software
- Steel sphere
- Meter stick or ruler
Setup
Point the camera perpendicular to the floor or table and hold it as steady as possible. Record a video of the steel ball’s motion as shown and save the video file on a computer. Open the Tracker program and load the video. See Tracker Quick Start for more details.
Analysis Questions
- Is the the ball’s total velocity as measured by Tracker equal to the vector sum of its x– and y-velocities?
- Is the ball’s total velocity constant? What is the uncertainty in your measurement?