Question

Suppose students experiment with the tube and a variety of darts. Some darts have higher masses than others but are the same aerodynamic shape. Assume air resistance is negligible for the darts. Should the students use a dart with large mass or small mass to launch the dart the farthest distance possible? State which dart will travel the farthest distance and explain your reasoning without manipulating equations.

Answer 1

The dart with the small mass will travel the farthest distance.

Step-by-step explanation:

Acceleration is proportional to force times mass, and inertia is proportional to mass. Inertia is the reluctance of a moving body to stop, and a stationary body to start moving (inertia increses with mass). Assuming they both have the same aerodynamic design, and that they are both launched with the same force applied for the same time duration, the dart with less small mass will accelerate faster than the big mass dart. From this we can see that the small dart will have covered a longer distance before the effect of the force stops, when compared to the more massive dart.