Procedure For Making Our Cannon

Step One:

Obtain the materials seen in the photo:

1. Two tennins ball cans

2. A pair of scissors

3. 18in of tape

Assumed Materials:
1. Protractor/Ruler
2. Marker

Step Two: 

Draw the design that is going to be 

used to biuld your cannon.  

Step Three:

We began building the cannon. We decided to have a base that would have a small cut in it that the barrell would kind of sit in.In the picture shown we were marking the place we were going to make our cut.   

Step Four;
We start to cut the base making it big enough for the barrell to lay in.

Step Five:

Marking the place we were going to cut the barrell, we made the cut so that their was only half of the barrell left. We did this so that there wouldnt be enough space for the gas to expand.   

 Step Six:

We cut the tennis ball can about halfway down or about 5in, from  the rim. This also made it easier for us to use a fourty-five degree angle. We chose that angle so that the cannon would shoot a greater distance.

This is what our finishing product looked like. As you can see the barrell is 5in long and is laying in the base as we watned. We took the top of the barrell that we had cut off and put on the bottom of the barrell to keep it from rolling. The only other thing we had to o was put a small whole in the barrel for the ethanol to go into the cannon so it can be shot.






How pressure, temperature, and volume play a role in the design:
Boyles Gas Law says that the volume and pressure of a gas are inversley proportional. We though that with a smaller volume the pressure would rise. This would cause the nurf ball to be shot out of the cannon as a result of a higher pressure and a lower volume.

Chemical Equation (Ethanol Oxygen):
C2H5OH+3O2---2CO2+3H2O

What angle we are using and why:
We choose to use a 45 degree angle. We did this because we wanted the the nurf ball to shoot a farther distance.

Problems we had while making the cannon:
The only problems that my group had was trying to decide how much of the barrell to cut off. We had a split decision between cutting off 3in or 5in, but eventually we decided to cut the 5in off.



Math Component:

1. The equation is h= -16t2+192t+32, with 192 being the initial velocity and 32 being the starting height.

2. Identify Variables:
• A: -16
• B: 192
• C: 32

3. Find the time (t)
• To find (t) use the quadratic formula: -b±√(b2-4ac)/2a
• Sub in the values of a, b, and c as shown above
• -(192)±√((1922)-(4*-16*32))/2(-16)
• New Equatio is: -192±(√38912)/-32 = -.166 or 12.16
• You cant have negative time so you change the sign: 12.16 is (t)≈12 seconds

4. Find the height (h)
• To find the height, you have to find the x-coordinate of the vertex. Use the equation x= -b/2a
• Plug in the above values to get -192/2(-16)  and that equation simplifies to 6.
• Next you have to plug in 6 for x (t) in the equation to get your y-coordinate (height)
h= -16t2+192t+32.
• h=-16(6)2+192(6)+32 which simplifies to h= -576+1152+32= 608 ft

5. You Have The Final Answer:
• Quadratic Model: h= -16t2+192t+32
• The cannon shoots: 608 ft
• The canon is in the air for: 12 seconds