Speech

The constructing of the cannon took a lot of research, patience and strategy. We as a team can honestly say there was no way to find how to create the perfect cannon. Although ours was one of the most successful cannons, we could still work to make it better. Our hypothesis was found to be correct; a maximum of four feet was the rate of our cannon when fired. The most successful cannon shot twenty one feet which was found to be amazing since we were using plastic tennis ball cans. The history of the cannon was rather fascinating dating back to china before the 1200s to present day. All being differentiated to peoples own personal preference. In the constructing of the cannon there were a lot of issues with the making and testing of the cannon. Such as finding a proper base to prop the cannon and then testing the weight factor of it. In the end we used the aluminum cap as a supporter of the cannon; we also put the ball in it to test the weight which passed as well. Also in the constructing of the cannon Matthew Karas checked the physics of projectile motion on which he concluded; horizontal motion and the vertical motion of an object have no effect on one another. This means that if an object moves up and down on a bus that is moving at a constant speed, the object’s vertical motion will not be affected. I will continue to move up and down as if the bus was not moving. I also learned how to find the distance an object will travel. It all depends on the angle that the object was projected at and the initial velocity of the object. To find the time the object is in the air we take the Cos of the angle the object was projected at. This is the speed the object is moving at horizontally and it will continue to travel at this speed as long as it remains airborne. Now we must find the vertical velocity of the object. To do this we find the sin of the angle the object was projected. However, we must take into account gravity. Gravity is a force of -9.8 m/s. It is a negative because we are working with velocity and gravity is pulling the object in the opposite direction that it is traveling. So you divide the initial vertical velocity of the object by the force of gravity and multiply by two to find the time the object will remain airborne. Now to find the distance the object traveled you multiply the time the object is in motion by the horizontal velocity of the object. Matthew Karas also researched on the effects of gas laws in which he stated; with this experiment I believe that the gas law being applied here is combined gas law. I believe this because the temperature will increase because there is a combustion reaction taking place. When the combustion reaction takes place in the chamber of the cannon, pressure will build in the chamber and heat, a constant volume. However there is a baffle so the carbon dioxide produced will fill the shaft of the cannon, building pressure behind the Nerf ball in the somewhat smaller chamber. As the carbon dioxide fills the smaller chamber the pressure will decrease in the larger chamber but will increase behind the Nerf ball, creating enough force to shoot it out of the cannon. The pressure, volume, and temperature are changing in this reaction and this is why the Combined Gas Law is applied.