How can I maximise the exit velocity of an object catapulted up?

[barondress]

Homework Statement

Place an object on a large air cushion and drop several other
objects in such a way that the first object is catapulted away.
Investigate how the exit velocity depends on relevant
parameters.

I believe this is an old question from IYPT but my Physics Teacher has suggested it to the class as a potential summer experiment to look into.

Any ideas into what the most important parameters to investigate are as well as why they are significant and what theory underlies it?

So far, I have come up with elasticity of the cushion, friction of the cushion, angle of drop, mass of object to be catapulted, mass of object to be dropped and the height that the object is dropped from.

Thank you in advance.

Relevant Equations

P = F/A
F = DELTA p / t

n/a

 

[berkeman]

Welcome to PF.

There are some pretty amazing (and scary) YouTube videos of people doing this with large cushions. Have you watched any of them yet? Watching them may provide some insights into how to get the best performance from the cushion...

 

[haruspex]

So far, I have come up with elasticity of the cushion,

What exactly do you mean by that? Elasticity of the material or of the cushion as a body?
Remember that you are interested in the transference of energy to another object on the cushion, not the bounce of the dropped object. E.g. dropping a mass on the raised end of a seesaw will transfer energy, but I would not describe a seesaw as elastic.

friction of the cushion,

Why?

angle of drop,

Surely a drop is vertical … no point in making it otherwise.

mass of object to be catapulted, mass of object to be dropped and the height that the object is dropped from.

ok, but what about degree of inflation of the cushion, in relation to its maximum perhaps?

It will help if you have some proposed model of how the process works.

 

[barondress]

Creating a quantitative model seems very difficult to do based on theory solely. Do you have any ideas on where I could start? I thought about volume of air in the cushion from acting like a rigid body with maximum volume of air which would definitely influence the exit velocity. I'm just not entirely sure how I could incorporate this into some sort of actual equation.

 

[haruspex]

Creating a quantitative model seems very difficult to do based on theory solely. Do you have any ideas on where I could start? I thought about volume of air in the cushion from acting like a rigid body with maximum volume of air which would definitely influence the exit velocity. I'm just not entirely sure how I could incorporate this into some sort of actual equation.

Maybe start by considering what you can vary. Degree of inflation, relative masses, drop height… Anything else?