Parallax
Problem:
The experiment that I have chosen for this science fair is finding distance with parallax. Parallax is when you find the distance of something using a protractor and and certain equation. The reason that I have chosen parallax is because I’ve always loved finding out different ways to do things. In this case that would mean that instead of using a tape measure to find the distance of an object, I’m using my math skills.
Hypothesis:
My hypothesis for this experiment is that the parallax method will be almost if not exactly correct when it comes to the distance of an object. I do believe though that as the objects get farther and farther, the method will become farther and farther off. I say this because when the object is close it might be only a few inches off, but if you have an object that is hundreds of feet away it might be a couple of feet off.
Procedure:
Assemble materials needed. (Protractor, tape measure, and a straw)
Find an object to prove or disprove my hypothesis.
Choose a starting point and measure the width of the area.
Take a protractor and put it on the ninety degree angle on the edge of the area.
Read the protractor and plug in the degrees and base width in the equation.
Solve the equation and record data.
Finally, find the actual distance by using a tape measure or a ruler.
Conclusion
I learned from this experiment that using parallax is a reliable method for finding the distance of an object. I say this because both of my tests came within six inches of the actual distance. I wouldn’t however, recommend using parallax over a tape measure for anything other than convenience since accuracy is not one hundred percent.
Abstract
I chose to check the accuracy of parallax. Parallax is used to find the distance from your position to an object. It can be found by viewing the object from two different positions and then finding the angle from the given positions. I thought that the parallax would be fairly accurate if not perfect given the fact that it is used fairly often around the globe. I chose this as my experiment because I like to test current ways of doing things and try to improve them if they aren’t effective.
First I chose an object in my house that I would find the distance of using parallax. I chose to do the distance from my kitchen countertop to the picture on the wall. I then measured how wide my countertop was. Next, I took a protractor with a straw on it and place the ninety degrees with the edge of my countertop. I then measure the angle from both end of the countertop and got eighty three degrees. Finally, I plugged in the numbers that I got into the equation d=D,tan<B. With this equation I found out that the distance from my countertop to the picture on the wall. I made sure that I actually took a laser measure to find the distance to check the parallax.
When I took the protractor and used it on both sides of my countertop I found that each angle was 83 degrees. After plugging in the numbers to find the parallax I found that the distance was 16.65 ft. I made sure that I checked the accuracy of the test by taking a laser measure and finding out the actual distance. The actual distance of the was exactly 16.65 ft, which proves to that parallax was accurate in this case.
I learned that parallax is a reliable method for finding the distance of an object using a protractor. My hypothesis was correct because I said that the parallax method would be close if not exact to what the actual distance was. I think that one might have an error with finding the angle with the protractor if they are not precise and get one off the actual angle. A way I could improve this experiment would be to test on more distant objects so I could see if the accuracy changes.
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