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In my experience, students are often confused by projectile motion, a=
nd confused again by rotational motion. The confusion is so great tha=
t perhaps it's better not to mix these two difficult concepts in the =
same lab. For example, when I do projectile motion, we use a photoga=
te to measure the ball's velocity at the edge of the table. I don't =
have the students calculate it based on the height and angle of the r=
amp, because they're not ready for that complication yet. Besides, fr=
iction in the system can lead to significant energy losses even when =
rotational motion is taken into account, so that any projectile calcu=
lation based on the intial potential energy is bound to fail.