Lesson 1: Forces

Lesson 2: Energy

Challenge - Basketball and the Hierarchy

In this tutorial, you will learn about how forces interact to produce projectile motion of a cannonball as it is launched from a catapult. You will begin by opening the Unity editor and downloading the project assets by following the included link. When you have the assets loaded and configured, you will start lesson one and begin working through the included steps. By changing the sliders that control your cannonball’s mass and the spring force of your catapult, you will watch how the forces applied by a catapult affect the arc and speed of a projectile. Using the data set you collect from the launch; you will calculate the acceleration of your cannonball. Once you are finished with the lesson activity, you will move on to the target free play section and experiment with mass and force until you are able to hit the center of a target.   

You will be able to explain the relationship between the forces applied to a cannonball, the mass of the ball, and the ball’s acceleration. Using what you've learned, you will find the optimal mass and force settings needed to hit the bullseye on a target. 

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

Adjust the mass of the cannonball being launched from a catapult.

Adjust the force applied to a cannonball by a catapult.

Understand the relationship between a force applied to a cannonball and its velocity.

Understand the relationship between a force applied to a cannonball and the distance it travels.

Use the velocity calculated in the Unity editor to determine the acceleration of a cannonball at different points in its arc.

*Note:  Follow along in the worksheet that can be found under Tutorial Materials. This is also where you can find other important resources like the Formulas and More page. 

Lesson 1.pdf

Worksheet.pdf

Formulas and More.pdf

CatapultPhysics .unitypackage.zip

Overview

Before you begin

Download the asset package

Experiment with force variables

Calculate the cannonball's acceleration

Open Target Free Play and Use Variable Forces to Hit the Target

CatapultPhysics.zip

Download the Asset Package

Select Lesson 1 and Experiment with Force Variables 

Calculate your cannonball's acceleration

Open Target Free Play and Use Variable Forces to Hit the Target 

Use the skills you’ve learned in the previous two lessons to score on a basketball hoop. After you’ve scored, you will have to use the hierarchy and inspector windows to manipulate the way your catapult works. When you’ve found out how to make changes to your catapult, try the Free Play activities again using different catapult settings. When you’ve finished working with the catapult settings, look at the code that calculates the values you see inside the simulation.

Catapult will throw a cannonball through a basketball hoop

Catapult settings and characteristics will be manipulated

In this challenge, you will reinforce the following skills/concepts:

Using mass and force sliders to send a cannonball to a specific location

Use the hierarchy menu to select elements of your catapult

Adjust the launch settings of your catapult using the inspector window in Unity

Complete the Free Play activities without the use of the force and mass sliders

Adjust the project settings and investigate the effect of your changes in the Free Play activities

Look at the code that allows the physics editor to make calculations

Challenge.pdf

Quiz.pdf

Score a basket

Adjust the trajectory without the sliders

More things to try

The catapult simulation has set variables

The catapult launches at a 45-degree angle

The catapult and cannonball have predetermined settings

The simulation also has set time and gravity values

The simulation is built with code

Curriculum Connections.pdf

Lesson 2.pdf

Quiz Answer Guide.pdf

Worksheet Answer Guide.pdf

This project allows students to experiment with foundational Physics concepts like mass, velocity, forces, and energy within Unity, a powerful real-time physics engine. This provides students with a fun and interactive way to tinker with various physical constants and immediately see their impact in a simulated environment. Not only is this an excellent way for students to solidify their understanding of these concepts, but it will also open their eyes to the possibility of using 3D engines like Unity to grapple with real-world scenarios.

In this project, you will have a chance to explore the physics involved in a catapult launch. Lessons on forces and energy will guide your exploration and a final challenge will test your knowledge. You will be manipulating multiple variables in the engine itself to produce changes in velocity, acceleration, distance and more!

This project is powered by Enable Education. You can find a link to the Enable Education website in the Project Materials to the right.

2022.3

2018.3

Catapult Physics; Forces, and Energy

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See attached file labelled "Curriculum Connections.pdf"

See attached file labelled "Challenge.pdf"

Adjust the project settings and investigate the effect of your changes on the Free Play activities

Use the skills you’ve learned in the previous two lessons to get the cannonball through the basketball hoop. After you’ve scored, you will have to use the Hierarchy and Inspector windows to manipulate the way your catapult works. When you’ve found out how to make changes to your catapult, try the Free Play activities again using different catapult settings. When you’ve finished working with the catapult settings, look at the code that calculates the values you see inside the simulation.

In this challenge, you must set the values to throw the ball through the hoop:

1.  Enter Play mode and select the Basketball [Challenge] button.

2.  Use the Cannonball Force and Spring Mass sliders to find a set of values that will allow you to catapult the ball through the hoop.

Hint: Use what you've learned in the previous free-play activities and manipulate the spring force and mass sliders.

Image showing the catapult ready to launch the payload at the target.

Until now, you’ve used the provided sliders to change the behavior of the catapult and cannonball. Unity exposes all of the various settings to the user so that they can build an application like this without the need for a slider interface.

Your challenge is to adjust the mass of the cannonball without the use of the sliders.

1.  Enter Play mode and select the Free Play [Boxes] button.

2.  Find the Cannonball GameObject in the Hierarchy window.

3.  Use the Inspector window to check which variables are available to you. 

4.  Adjust the variables and run the simulation without changing the Cannonball Mass slider and see if you can knock the boxes over.

Tip: The cannonball's mass can be changed in the RigidBody component of the Cannonball GameObject. 

 Screenshot of Hierarchy showing the Cannonball GameObject selected.

Below are a couple of other things to try once you feel confident about you abilities:

Change the launch angle of the catapult arm.

Tip: You need to find the GameObject that contains these settings.

Inspect the code to see how the forces and movement are calculated in the context of the Unity physics system.

Tip: You will find the scripts in the Assets > Scripts folder.

Congratulations, you have finished the Catapult Physics: Forces and Energy tutorial! In this tutorial, you learned how to calculate the forces, velocity and energy associated with a moving projectile.

Challenge - Basketball and the Hierarchy

1. Overview

2. Score a basket

3. Adjust the trajectory without the sliders

4. More things to try

Complete this tutorial