The++Ball+off+the+Table


 * Lab Title:** The Ball off the Table


 * Primary Authors:** Colleen McDonagh and Sara Meinecke


 * Contributing Authors / Graphs:** Carly Goranson


 * Abstract:** The goal of this lab is to create a simulation of a car driving along a road and off of a cliff. In order to do this we watched a pre-made video of a ball rolling a long a table and then dropping to the ground. We were then able to use this video to collect and graph data to give us an idea of what would happen if a car drove off of a cliff.


 * Introduction:** In this lab, we will be watching a video of an orange ball rolling on top of a table to the end and then dropping to the ground. By watching this video and plotting different positions of the ball, getting very accurate data to help us find the velocity of the ball throughout it's journey.


 * Methods/Findings:** Once we plotted the points of the ball during the video, we were able to use this information to find both the horizontal and vertical velocities of the ball throughout it's path. We found that the X-Velocity was constant throughout the entire journey; however, the Y-Velocity changed once the ball started to decline off of the table. This shows us that the horizontal velocity is always a constant, while the vertical velocity is not. The horizontal and vertical velocities are not related, or dependable on each other.


 * Questions:**
 * 1)** The __horizontal__ position and velocity graphs are very constant graphs. The position graph is a diagonal line at about a 45 degree angle, and it is going at a constant speed. The velocity graph is a generally straight line because the horizontal velocity of the ball is not changing throughout the entire path of the ball. Even though the position of the ball is moving horizontally, the velocity is not affected - it is always constant.
 * 2)** The __vertical__ position and velocity graphs are very different than the horizontal graphs. The position graph is a straight line until the ball drops from the table and then the position graph shows a downward diagonal line (about 45 degrees south of east). The velocity graph is a straight line at zero until it falls off of the table and then it has a negative velocity while the ball drops from the table. The vertical velocity is always changing if an object is moving, unlike horizontal velocity.
 * 3)** When the ball was on the table the horizontal distance between three dot intervals was 0.25 cm but when the ball left the table the horizontal distance between three dots decreased to 0.2 cm. This supports the how we answered question one. Because the distance decreased after the ball left the table we know that the position graph line started to slop downward after being a straight line while the ball was still on the table.
 * 4)** During three dot intervals when the ball was on the table the balls vertical position didn't change at all. After the ball left the table the ball's vertical position changed -0.1 cm. this information supports our answer to question two. The -0.1 cm vertical change between the dot intervals means that the position graph has a diagonal downward slope. It also means that the velocity is increasing because as the ball falls down it accelerates because of gravity.
 * 5)** The __horizontal__ acceleration of the ball while in the air is 0 m/s/s. The reasoning for this is that the slope of the velocity graph for the horizontal is zero - and acceleration is the slope of velocity. For all objects free falling the horizontal acceleration will be zero, because it's velocity will always be a constant number.
 * 6)** The __vertical__ acceleration of the ball while in the air is about -10 m/s/s. This is a correct finding because the force of gravity is -9.8 m/s/s and -10 is extremely close to -9.8. This finding will always be the vertical acceleration for all free falling objects.


 * Conclusion:** We found that the vertical velocity of the ball is decreasing, while the horizontal velocity of the ball is staying the same. This would hold true for the situation for the car, and we predict that the acceleration for the car would be similar to the acceleration of the ball while falling (0 for the horizontal acceleration, and about -10 for the vertical acceleration). This lab was directly related to the simulation of a car driving along a road and off of a cliff, and our findings would hold true if this experiment was actually to be done.

__**Data:**__ (meters) || Y (meters) ||
 * Time (seconds) || X
 * 1.585 || 0.05264 || 0.67 ||
 * 1.627 || 0.1094 || 0.67 ||
 * 1.668 || 0.1792 || 0.67 ||
 * 1.710 || 0.2425 || 0.68 ||
 * 1.752 || 0.2927 || 0. 68 ||
 * 1.793 || 0.3603 || 0.67 ||
 * 1.835 || 0.4061 || 0.67 ||
 * 1.877 || 0.4694 || 0.67 ||
 * 1.918 || 0.5261 || 0.67 ||
 * 1.960 || 0.5829 || 0.68 ||
 * 2.002 || 0.6309 || 0.68 ||
 * 2.043 || 0.6833 || 0.68 ||
 * 2.085 || 0.7422 || 0.68 ||
 * 2.127 || 0.8011 || 0.68 ||
 * 2.168 || 0.8578 || 0.68 ||
 * 2.210 || 0.9036 || 0.68 ||
 * 2.252 || 0.9604 || 0.68 ||
 * 2.293 || 1.015 || 0.68 ||


 * __Graphs:__**