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Author: leong tze kwang
Contact: leongtzekwang@gmail.com

Angry Birds Tracker Activity: Determining the Mass of a Planet

Objective:

Use video analysis with Tracker to determine the mass of a fictional planet by analyzing the motion of an Angry Bird in free fall or projectile motion.

Materials Needed:

• Tracker software (free download)

• Video of an Angry Bird in motion on the planet’s surface

• Known scale reference (e.g., bird size, slingshot distance)

• Basic kinematics equations

Procedure:

1. Import the Video into Tracker

   • Load the Angry Birds gameplay footage where a bird is launched or falls freely.

   • Set a reference scale based on a known object (e.g., slingshot height).

2. Track the Motion of the Angry Bird

   • Manually or automatically mark the bird's position frame by frame.

   • Generate position vs. time and velocity vs. time graphs.

3. Determine the Acceleration Due to Gravity ($g$)

   • Analyze the vertical motion of the bird in free fall or during the parabolic flight.

   • Use the kinematic equation:

     y=v0t+12gt2y = v_0 t + \frac{1}{2} g t^2y=v0​t+21​gt2

   • Extract the acceleration ($g$) from the graph slope or equation fitting.

4. Calculate the Mass of the Planet

   • Apply Newton’s law of universal gravitation:

     g=GMR2g = \frac{G M}{R^2}g=R2GM​

   • Rearrange to find the planet's mass $M$:

     M=gR2GM = \frac{g R^2}{G}M=GgR2​

   • Use an estimated planetary radius ($R$) from the game’s background or scale.

Analysis & Discussion:

• Compare the calculated $g$ to Earth’s 9.81 m/s29.81 \, m/s^29.81m/s2.

• Discuss assumptions made (e.g., air resistance, 2D motion).

• Consider sources of error, such as video frame rate and measurement inaccuracies.

Conclusion:

By analyzing an Angry Bird's motion using Tracker, students can estimate the mass of a fictional planet, applying real physics principles in an engaging way.

Video

 by TheLeongster

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