In accordance with Newton's 2nd Law, an object experiences a constant acceleration when subject to a single constant force, here assumed to be the object's weight. If the initial velocity of the object is zero, or if the initial velocity lies along the line of the acceleration, then the motion is rectilinear. If, however, the initial velocity has a component perpendicular to the acceleration vector , i.e., an x-component, then we have what is called projectile motion. Both cases are described by Eq. These equations are parametric in time.
Procedure Inspect the spring gun.
Note that there are three loading positions. Use that loading position throughout the experiment. This maintains the same muzzle speed for the entire experiment. Always leave the gun unloaded or uncocked until just before you are ready to fire for safety reasons and exercise reasonable caution for safety when firing. Fire the gun into the catcher equipped with carbon paper covered and taped at the leading edge with plane paper.