EXERCISE 2

Predictions

Before you proceed with this part of the exercise make a prediction of how the time the ball takes to hit the floor varies as you increase the initial speed for the case of the ball being launched horizontally. Do you think the ball will be in the air longer, the same, or a smaller time than the initial launch speed?

Make another prediction about how the total horizontal distance the ball travels before hitting the ground as you increase the initial launch speed of the horizontally launched ball. Do you think the horizontal distance will increase, remain the same, or decrease as you increase the initial speed.

Run the Model

Once you’ve made your prediction, run your model with five different initial speeds and record the total horizontal distance and the total time the ball is in the air. Create two graphs from this data, one for horizontal distance vs. initial launch velocity and another graph for total air time vs. initial launch velocity.

How do your predictions compare to the output from the computational model? If your predictions differed from the model results explain how your thoughts have changed as a result of viewing the model.