Forces Project Part 4 – Data Analysis

Evaluating

Sources of Uncertainty

-Inaccurate measurement of peak height. It is a bit difficult to measure straight up into the air because there are the problems of measuring tapes not being able to stay completely straight while that high in the air.

-Time to reach basketball hoop and to reach peak height. I recorded this on my phone and I tried going frame by frame. Unfortunately, iPhone doesn’t show milliseconds in the gallery so the time shown in the data collection is very approximate and is my best guess based on how long I think it took in the video. The answer may not be exactly what it is supposed to be but is for sure close.

-Angle of the video recorded. The reason the perspective was so weird was because I was at a recreation center with other people playing as well. I didn’t want to record other people without their permission so that was the only angle I could get without getting anyone else in it. This is a limitation because while using this video in the video analysis program, it seems quite odd how the ball goes straight up then straight down (what it looked like in the video).

Ways To Improve the Experiment

This experiment has a few things that could’ve been improved to make this experiment even more accurate.

One way to improve this experiment is to have a recording device that allows you to see frame by frame and displays milliseconds when needed. This would’ve given a more accurate answer to the time data in this experiment.

Another way to improve this experiment is to have a better way of measuring peak heights. While this was somewhat accurate, a measuring tape at a high height becomes flimsy and hard to control. This made it a bit difficult to find the most accurate answer. To improve this, I think it would be easier to have something that isn’t as flimsy as measuring tape so that it is able to go up in a straight line rather than falling sideways and giving an inaccurate answer.

Ways a Scientist Could Improve my Experiment

A way a scientist could improve my experiment is having devices that directly track the velocity change the ball goes through while it makes its way to the net. This would make the experiment so much easier rather than having to go through different programs. Another way to improve this is to have a device that shows accurate measurements rather than having to manually measure heights with a measuring tape.

Application of the Experiment

If this experiment was better done by a scientist with an unlimited budget, this could help people by allowing them to understand how much force needs to be applied to the basketball to allow them to make a good shot. This will vary based on person but doing this gives people a rough idea on the basics of what needs to be done to help them succeed in basketball shooting.

NEW Data using Video Analysis

Ball starts 0.538 meters off the ground

Time to reach peak height (1.35 seconds)

Peak height (3.11 meters)

Time to reach net (2.02 seconds)

–Hoop measurement (116.4 inches) or (2.96 meters)

–Basketball weight (1.2 pounds) or (0.540 kilograms)

–Person distance from hoop (120 inches) or (3.0 meters)

-Initial Velocity (0 m/s)

Calculations

Different points during the Experiment

Start of shot

Peak height

End of shot

Conclusion 

Question: How much force is needed to allow a basketball to travel the distance towards a basketball hoop? And does it vary based on person?

The answer to this question varies on a variety of different factors. First, there is no right answer to this question because it depends on the person. My experiment had the shot taken from 3.0 meters away from the hoop meaning that I didn’t have to apply a lot of force as I would if I were further away but also had to apply quite a bit to allow the ball to travel the distance needed.

The results of my experiment showed that for myself, from 3.0 meters away, I needed to apply a force of 5.1N to allow the basketball to travel towards the net.

Forces Project Part 3

Question

How much force is needed to allow a basketball to travel the distance towards a basketball hoop? And does it vary based on person?

Planning and Conducting

Hoop measurement (116.4 inches) or (2.96 meters)

Basketball weight (1.2 pounds) or (540 grams)

Person distance from hoop (120 inches) or (3.0 meters)

Peak height of ball (126.2 inches) or (3.21 meters)

Time to reach peak height (1.1 seconds)

Time to reach basketball hoop (2.0 seconds)

Updated FBDs

My FBD had no changes to them as I conducted the experiment exactly how I demonstrated on the FBD except that I now gathered the measurements required for me to do my calculations.

Challenges

During this experiment there weren’t as many problems as I expected. I did my experiment in a recreational basketball gym and was able to get the hoop measurements from one of the workers and it turned out to be accurate.

The only problem that really occurred was that since it was a recreational basketball gym, trying to have the chance to have an empty basketball hoop without anyone playing on it took a bit of time. I had to wait for people to leave to be able to measure out how far I needed to stand and the peak height of the ball. Other than that, the experiment ran smoothly and I was able to get all the data I needed thanks to the help of a couple of friends that were willing to help me.

 

Data Collection

Comparing the data I accurately measured vs. the average measurements mentioned in the previous blog post, everything checked out and was all similar to each other. I predicted that the basketball hoop I do my experiment on would be 10ft however, ended up being just short of 10ft standing at 9.7ft. Also mentioned in the previous blog post, I am ignoring air resistance.

Pictures

I wasn’t able to get any pictures of me taking measurements of the hoop however, I have a video of myself shooting the basketball.

 

 

Physics Planning and Material List

Questioning and Predicting

How much force is needed to allow a basketball to travel the distance towards a basketball hoop? And does it vary based on person?

Analyzing the Situation 

  • A basketball hoop is 10 feet high in the air
  • A standard basketball is 0.62kg and has a circumference of 75cm
  • Height of person shooting the basketball – 5’11”
  • For the calculations, air resistance is ignored

Planning the Experiment (Data needed)

  • Find peak height the basketball reaches (find out when the ball starts to drop back down)
  • Find exact height of basketball hoop
  • Find exact mass and size of basketball
  • Measure how far the person is standing away from the hoop
  • Research isn’t necessary in this experiment because the experiment is different based on the factors I chose for this situation

Procedure

  • Set up camera (far enough for everything relevant to be in sight)
  • Measure out how far from hoop you are shooting from
  • Shoot the basketball
  • Playback video to view peak height and timings

Materials

  • Basketball
  • Measuring tape
  • Ladder?
  • Phone to record a side angle of the experiment (to allow for playback)

Free Body Diagrams

Physics 11 Project Ideas

In Physics 11 we are assigned a project where we take any action of an object and analyze it. The analyzation will consist of calculations to find unknown values that make the object execute the action. This can also be shown by diagrams of the action and explanations that allow the observer to understand what is actually happening. Some ideas for this project are:

  • Something involving sports related items: (air resistance on a basketball or hockey puck as you shoot it, juggling a soccer ball with your feet)
  • Sliding different material objects on a table
  • How fast certain things roll down slopes or hills (based on different masses and shapes)