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Sports Physics 6-8 / Week 11 / Game Day
6/6
Week 11 · Throws and Arcs

Game Day

Game Day: Target toss
// Forward motion meets gravity
⏱ about 20 min

Game Day: Target Toss

Saturday morning, a cardboard box lies on its side on the lawn, its open mouth facing the launch line.

"Get the foam ball in the box," Raven says. "But first, say out loud which angle you will use."

Rocket calls "steep" and lobs. The ball drops in with a soft thump. He pumps his fist.

Raven calls "flat" and skims hers. It bounces off the front of the box. "Too fast, too low," she laughs.

Nova hovers above the box. "What do you notice about which angle works for a target with a top opening?"

"Steep drops in. Flat bounces off," Rocket says. "The angle picks the landing."

"Then move the box farther and try again," Raven says, already carrying it across the grass.

  1. A projectile is an object moving under gravity alone. Its path is a trajectory, and its highest point is the apex.
  2. Forward motion stays at a steady pace. Gravity pulls down the whole time. The two motions are independent.
  3. A faster launch goes farther and higher. Doubling the speed gives four times the height.
  4. Without air, 45 degrees gives the greatest range. Two angles that add to 90 give the same range.
  5. Gravity depends on mass. The same toss goes farther where gravity is weaker, as on the Moon.
◇ FAMILY TARGET TOSS
Set an open box or laundry basket on the lawn about 3 metres from a tape launch line.
Each person calls their launch angle, steep or flat, before tossing a foam ball toward the target.
Score a point for every ball that lands and stays in. After five tosses each, move the target farther and repeat.
Talk it over: which angle landed more balls at the near distance? Did the answer change when the target moved?
For a grown-up
Foam or tennis balls only, tossed gently and never at a person. Outdoors in a spot you pick, away from windows and roads.
Younger children watch from behind the launch line. Everyone wears shoes.
The facts this week come from NASA Glenn Research Center, NASA's Planetary Fact Sheet and a college physics text at libretexts.org.
Safety first
Toss underhand, gently, outdoors only. Never toss toward a person, a window or a road.
Only the tosser stands at the launch line. Everyone else waits behind it.
Stop if anyone is hurt or tired. Drink water on a hot day.
THINK IT THROUGH
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
A ball must drop into a box through its top opening. Which launch angle helps most?
You move the target farther away and keep the same angle. What must change for the ball to reach it?
Game Day checkTrue or false?
Calling the angle before each toss makes the game a fair test of angles.?
A flat toss comes down nearly straight from above.?
A faster toss at the same angle lands farther away.?
WHY THIS EXERCISESpeed and angle are the only two choices a thrower has, and the game let you test both.
Draw the target box and two arcs toward it, one steep that drops in and one flat that bounces off.
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