EA-56 Electric Puck Launcher
Consists of a powerful solenoid that mounts on the corner of the Table to launch pucks with a reproducible velocity and direction. An adjustable power supply is used to charge a large capacitor. When this capacitor is discharged through the solenoid, it delivers a substantial and reproduceable impulse to the puck.
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The launcher is particularly valuable for launching pucks on a tilted Air Table simulating the motion of a projectile. The tilt of the Table provides the gravity force. The vertical component of the launch velocity is reduced by the force of gravity, while the horizontal component is unaffected. The path of the puck is a parabola. If a second recording is made of a puck freely falling down the tilted Table, the acceleration due to gravity can be measured. The student will find that the acceleration due to gravity is the same for the trajectory and for the freely falling puck. The data analysis can be done graphically so that no calculus is needed.
