Physics of the Launcher

The Launcher is the part of the machine that starts all the fun.

The rod that is pulled back has a mass of 25 grams, the spring on the back has
a K constant value of 1150 Newtons per meters.

using the equation of to find elastic potential energy



finding the conversion from potential energy to kinetic energy



We get a velocity value of 32.1 meters per second of the 25 gram rod.
Using the equation for the conservation of momentum



and solving for v2 gives us a final velocity of the ball after the launch
to be 14.7 meters per second.