A tilted plane as a gravitational field model

Abstract

Gravitational models have been widely used to study the effects of fields on particle motion. The advantages of such models are: (1) They are often easier or cheaper to construct and use than the system which they represent. (2) Particle motion is readily seen and may be photographed. (3) Events lasting for a fraction of a microsecond as, for example, with electrons moving in electrostatic fields, may be demonstrated in models as events which take a few seconds. The article describes the use of a tilted plane as a two-dimensional, uniform gravitational field. It has been used successfully as a sixth-form physics experiment to demonstrate the motion of projectiles fairly close to the Earth over a limited range. Thus it shows the motion of artillery shells (ignoring air resistance) but not of artificial satellites or long-range rockets, for which a simple uniform field model is not valid.