Slingshot Science

My brother and I got some slingshots from a small booth at these waterfalls called Salto del Lajo.  When we first got the slingshots we were okay at shooting them but we’ve gotten better. We have practiced our sling shots by shooting fence posts and trees. One time a woman asked us if we were going to shoot birds and I said “yes” because I didn’t quite understand what she was asking. Then she talked to my mom and we realized that she was asking if we were going to shoot birds, when we said “no” she was glad to hear that. Today we decided to do some science by shooting our slingshots using different materials.

Our Experiment

Question? Which will shoot farther: lake rock, volcanic rock, apricot seed?

Materials: 1 slingshot, 3 lake rocks, 3 volcanic rocks, 2 apricot seeds.

Prediction: I think that the lake rocks will go the farthest because they are the heaviest. I think the apricot seeds will go the least distance because they are the lightest.

Result: I was correct. The lake rocks went the farthest and the apricots went the least distance.

Lake Rock	Volcanic Rock	Apricot Seed
62 paces	50 paces	25 paces
53 paces	50 paces	42 paces
59 paces	40 paces	Not enough seeds

Variables: Weight wasn’t the only difference it was also their shape and size. The way you shot the slingshot each time can be different too. The lake rocks sometimes bounced when they landed, but they still went the farthest.

the waterfall where we got our slingshots