Material Detail

The Ballistic Pendulum

In this physics crime lab or demonstration, learners pretend they are criminologists and must find the "muzzle velocity" (speed of the bullet as it leaves the gun) of a gun used to commit a crime. Learners build an apparatus to fire a dart from a plastic toy gun into the open end of a cut-off plastic water bottle which has been stuffed with a plastic bag and suspended as a pendulum. Knowing the mass of the dart, the mass of the water bottle-bag...

Keywords:: Social Sciences, Speed, Bullet, Potential Energy, Momentum, History/Policy/Law, NSDL, Forensics, Velocity, Physics, Conducting Investigations, Crime, Number and Operations, Chemistry, General, Criminology, Mass and Weight, Data Analysis, Science and Society, Materials Science, Variables and Expressions, Physical Science, Equations and Inequalities, Ballistic, Communicating Results, Measurement, Mathematics, Motion and Forces, Data Collection, Science as a Career, Projectile Motion, Gathering Data, General Science, Technology, Potential and Kinetic Energy, Kinetic Energy, Pendulum, Momentum and Velocity, Education, Energy, Algebra, Formulating Explanations, Gun