This battleship project may take 3-4 days to build. Knowing how far your maximum and minimum distance will be before you start building can help determine how much force is needed to launch the marbles.

Supplies

- one piece of plywood

- four 2x4 (two of them are 48.26 cm long and the other two are 20.955 cm long)

- one 4x4 that is 15.24 cm long

- four metal brackets

- one piece of 3.25 conduit

- one spring

- miscellaneous nuts, bolts and screws

Step 1: Preparing Your Base

The base you see was made by using one piece of plywood and four 2x4 piece (two pieces were 48.26 cm long and the two other pieces were 20.955 cm long). Take the four 2x4 pieces and places them so that the two smaller pieces are across from each other and the two larger pieces are cross from each other in a rectangular shape. Next, screw together all four of the pieces in the rectangular shape. After the four pieces of wood are together, place the plywood on top of the rectangle you just made. You want to cut the plywood so that it fits just right with the bottom rectangular base. After you cut the plywood, screw the piece onto the top of the rectangular base.

Step 2: Making the Launch Holder

For this step you will need the 4x4 piece of wood that is 15.24 cm long. At one end of the piece of wood you are going to create a hole. This hole is where the launcher will be located. You will need to cut a hole that 2.54 cm wide, 4.13 cm deep and 7.62 cm long. After you are done making the hole, you will drill a hole 2.54 cm away from the end of the hole. You will also need to drill a hole in the plywood that is on your base. The hole will be 3.81 cm away from the short end of the base. Then take a long screw that is long enough to get through the both boxes. This screw will allow your battleship to be able to rotate. Under the plywood make sure you screw it under the plywood with a washer and bolt.

Step 3: Making the Launchers Adjustable Base

Since you have the 4x4 plywood together now, you will start to create the adjustable base that the tube the marble will launch out of will rest on. For this step you will use a zip tie, screws, bolts and four metal brackets. Two brackets should be 30.48 cm long and the other two brackets should be 20.32 cm long. Take the two longer pieces of bracket and place those on the long side of the 4x4 with screws. The bracket should be placed 15.56 cm on each side of the 4x4. Then take the two smaller brackets and place them at the third hole in the larger brackets on each side. Uses bolts to secure the brackets. Then take the top of the smaller brackets and bring them closer together so they are touching. Use the zip tie to secure there placement.

Step 4: Making the Launching Tube

For this you will need a long screw that will go through the short length of the 4x4, a spring, two small washers, one medium sized screw, one bolt, and a one piece of 3.25 conduit. Take the conduit and cut a hole in the side that is 0.635 cm wide and 5.08 cm long. In the top of the conduit place the spring so it falls to the bottom. The spring should be the size you need for your distance that you need to go. After your spring is in the condont, take the medium size spring and put it into the hole you made but make sure it is on top of the spring. place the washer and bolts on each side to make sure the screw is secure. Then, drill a hole through the short bottom end of the condont and place it in the hole of the 4x4. After, put the long screw through the 5th hole in the metal bracket, the 4x4 and the 3.25 condont.

Step 5: The Time Calculations

The pictures show the work that was done to show the time that each trial had. Trial 1 has a time of 0.832 seconds. Trial 2 had a time of 0.748 seconds. Trial 3 had a time of 0.7204. We found these answers by using the time equation that was provided.

Step 6: The Initial Velocity Calulations

To find initial velocity I used the kinematic equation that is s=ut+1/2at^2. Acceleration was 0 in the x direction which meant the equation changed to just s=ut. This means for eah trial we took the distance and divided by the time (seconds). For trial 1 the initial velocity was 2.198 m/s. For trial 2 the initial velocity was 3.09 m/s. For trial 3 the initial velocity was 3.561 m/s.

Step 7: Work-Energy Equation

We were unsure what an work-energy equation is. After googling it we learned that work-energy is equal to mass*gravity*height. For trial 1, using the formula we found, we had 31.34 Joules. For trial 2 we had 28.81 Joules. For trial 3 we had 26 Joules