Keep checking for the information on our actual launch!!!
Materials:
- two tennis ball canisters with tops
- an 18 inch piece of tape
Tools:
- scissors
- marker
- compass
This is our cannon design. We chose to use one whole tennis tube as the cannon chamber. Then we used half of one tennis can to hold up the front and an "A" type of structure to create even more support.
Step #1: Draw a line indicating where you want to cut the first tube
Step #2: Cut the tube along the line
Step #3: Set the second tube on top of the cut tube
Step #4: Use other half of cut tube to make support for the sides
Step #5: Cut extra tube into strips and create an "A support"
Step #6: Poke a hole in the bottom of the big tube
Step #7: Name your cannon and...
YOU'RE DONE!
Chemistry of a Cannon Launch
The balanced chemical formula for this reaction is C2H5OH + 3O2 --> 2CO2 + 3H2O The CO2 in the reaction build pressure in the canister and gives the Nerf ball enough energy to be shot from the cannon. Gay-Lussac's law will be used in the firing of our cannons. This law says that the pressure of a gas is directly proportional to the kelvin temperature if the volume is held constant. There will be a constant volume inside our canister. So, when we stick the splint that is on fire into the canister the temperature will rise and as the law states the pressure will rise too. Causing a Nerf ball to launch out of the front end of our cannon!!!
Math
Use the quadratic model h = -16t2+v0t+h0 to solve the following problem.
Question: A cannonball is shot upward from the upper deck of a fort with an initial velocity of 192 feet per second. The deck is 32 feet above the ground.
How to Solve:
1. Read the problem and plug in the velocity and initial height into the equation.
2. Plug the revised equation into to y= key on your graphing calculator.
3. Scroll through to numbers until you see the highest possible Y value
4. When you find the Y value, that will be how high the cannonball goes.
5. The corresponding X value will be how long the cannonball is in the air.
Quadratic model: -16t2+(192)t+(32)
How high does the cannonball go? ~ 608 feet
How long is the cannonball in the air? 6 seconds
