Scenario
The problem scenario is a clear description of the problem including its measurable solution requirements. The description should relate directly to the problem, whether this be in the world around us, other fields of knowledge, or a current issue in computing. IBO
Background
These pages are designed to guide you through the processes of starting and completing your Internal Assessment. You should read many of the sections as if you were reading someone's IA. Throughout these pages, you should refer to the assessment criteria for this work.
Before we begin, let's imagine the following student...
One student is particularly drawn to the physics of motion - how projectiles arc, how velocity changes with mass, and what really happens when objects collide. In school labs she can launch carts and balls, but time, equipment, and safety limit how many conditions she can test. She wants a rigorous, repeatable way to explore ‘what-ifs’, compare theory with observed data, and visualise the results clearly. A computing solution could model projectile motion and collisions, vary parameters interactively, capture measurements from experiments, and evaluate accuracy against predictions - building scientific understanding while developing solid computational thinking skills.
Having imagined this student, this is how she might write her problem statement, and her measurable requirements.
Problem Statement
I need a way to test projectile motion and collisions, exploring ‘what-if’ scenarios beyond limited lab resources. I intend to develop a tool that will help me set various parameters, such mass, velocity, angle, and drag. With these, I want to simulate and graph trajectories, momentum, and the effect of collisions between 2 objects.
Measurable Requirements
The system must support up to two spherical objects. For each object I will set mass, radius, launch position, a launch angle, and its initial velocity. I will also specify a drag coefficient. Global settings include gravity, time, and total simulation duration. With one object, the program will simulate projectile motion, with or without drag, and plot the trajectory. It will export the settings of a simulation as a CSV file. With two objects launched from opposite sides, it will detect, and respond to, collisions. Users can name, save, load, and duplicate simulations.