AP Physics Project: Projectile Launcher

 

• Details of design choices
  • When I started the projectile project, the first thing I thought about was creating a canon-like structure. I always knew that I wanted to build something that utilized a spring. Being a complicated person, I just had to design a complex blueprint to convey my plans. My blueprint consisted of the following:
    • Have two tubes: one would be smaller than the other. The smaller tube will have a spring attached to a circular object (inside) with a large diameter to prevent the spring from flying out when an object gets projected.
    • An incision that goes through the small tube and big tube that would allow a cylinder like an object to spin. That would cause the whole tube to rotate, which would allow an object to fly out with different angles.
    • The whole tube will be attached to a wooden base to keep the whole structure balanced at all times.
  • I did almost everything I envisioned, except that I forgot to create an incision and had to change my whole base. In order to personalize my launcher to the best of its ability, I decided to paint a pattern that suits my taste, which was leopard print.

 

• Issues I’ve encountered and changes I have made
  • My vision consisted of a tube attached to a cylinder-like object in order to be able to vary my angles when firing. Both the tube and cylinder object would be attached to a mainframe to keep the whole structure balanced. After attaching the smaller inner-tube to the spring, I would place both objects inside of the main tube. I followed my plan, but I realized that I forgot to create an incision to place the rotatable cylinder in during one of my steps. My backup strategy was to cut out a circular hole on the top surface of the launcher to place the tub in. I made sure to create enough room in between the top base and the bottom base so that one can extend the spring for maximum power.
  • When designing my blueprint, I took measurements into account. In order for the whole structure to be balanced, the two sides of a base portion had to be the same length. Additionally, they had to be long enough to allow the spring to be extended to its maximum without hitting another surface. The circle that I made on the top base definitely had to be larger than the big tube so that the cylinder would be tilted (to create a typical canon-like angle). The base of the entire launcher had to be equal to or longer than the distance between the two sides to maintain the balance.