Non-Uniform Motion

By: Jason Chan

Lab Partner: Kelvin Duong
EN PH 131, Lab Section EU02
TA: Callum Doolin
Date of Lab: Feb 12, 2014








Introduction
The principle that underlies this experiment is the effect of acceleration on motion. In
this experiment, the relationships between distance, velocity, and acceleration of a glider will
be analyzed. Also, the difference between instantaneous and average velocity will be looked at.
Average velocity can be represented by the equation:

Where is the change in distance during the time interval .
Instantaneous velocity can be calculated by the equation:

Where becomes extremely small, or approaches zero. However, using the spark tape would
cause an inaccuracy for the calculation. Therefore, the average velocity is used to approximate
the instantaneous velocity at the middle of the interval.
Experimental Method
First, a run is performed using the glider and the spark timer. The sparks fire at a
frequency of 20Hz. As the glider is pulled forwards by a weight, sparks burns are left on the
spark tape. The glider is then slowed down by a spring. Starting at the first identifiable spark
burn on the spark tape, the distance from successive burns are measured and recorded.
Using this data, the instantaneous velocity at each point can be approximated. Position
as a function of time can also be graphed, and from this, the slope of the tangent line can be
used to find instantaneous velocity.







Results and Calculations
Figure 1. Data
Spark Number Time
t (0.1% s)
Distance
x (0.1cm)
Velocity
v (2cm/s)
1 0.05 1.0 -----
2 0.10 1.8 17
3 0.15 2.7 20
4 0.20 3.8 22
5 0.25 4.9 23
6 0.30 6.1 26
7 0.35 7.5 27
8 0.40 8.8 28
9 0.45 10.3 31
10 0.50 11.9 32
11 0.55 13.5 33
12 0.60 15.2 36
13 0.65 17.1 38
14 0.70 19.0 40
15 0.75 21.1 42
16 0.80 23.2 43
17 0.85 25.4 45
18 0.90 27.7 47
19 0.95 30.1 47
20 1.00 32.4 47
21 1.05 34.8 48
22 1.10 37.2 49
23 1.15 39.7 50
24 1.20 42.2 50
25 1.25 44.7 50
26 1.30 47.2 49
27 1.35 49.6 49
28 1.40 52.1 50
29 1.45 54.6 49
30 1.50 57.0 49
31 1.55 59.5 48
32 1.60 61.8 46
33 1.65 64.1 46
34 1.70 66.4 45
35 1.75 68.6 43
36 1.80 70.7 43
Figure 1 Continued
37 1.85 72.9 42
38 1.90 74.9 39
39 1.95 76.8 38
40 2.00 78.7 38
41 2.05 80.6 34
42 2.10 82.1 31
43 2.15 83.7 31
44 2.20 85.2 29
45 2.25 86.6 25
46 2.30 87.7 24
47 2.35 89.0 23
48 2.40 90.0 18
49 2.45 90.8 17
50 2.50 91.7 16
51 2.55 92.4 13
52 2.60 93.0 10
53 2.65 93.4 7
54 2.70 93.7 5
55 2.75 93.9 -----

Sample calculation for instantaneous velocity at spark number 6:

The derivation for the error in instantaneous velocity is shown below: (1)

Note:

is constant

( )




Figure 2. Displacement as a function of Time graph

Figure 3. Velocity as a function of Time graph

0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
70.00
80.00
90.00
100.00
0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00
Position
(+-0.1cm)
Time (s)
Position vs. Time
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00
Velocity
(+-2 cm/s)
Time (s)
Velocity vs. Time
Calculation for average velocity:

Discussion
The error for instantaneous was calculated as seen in (1). Since the time interval, and
error in position is constant, this means that for all values of instantaneous velocity, the error
has a constant of . This takes into the account for possible inaccuracy while measuring
the displacement of the spark burns with a metre stick.
The average velocity was calculated to be . This is not close to the calculated
mid-trip value of . This is because the glider does not undergo constant acceleration
in the experiment. Only when the time interval is small, could the average velocity be
calculated to approximate instantaneous velocity. Since the time interval for the calculation of
average velocity here is very large, it would not be appropriate to use it for finding the
instantaneous velocity of the glider in the middle of the trip.
Graphical results; Figure 4: Distance vs. time , and Figure 5: Instantaneous velocity vs. time
, can be referred to at the back.
The tangent line was drawn on the 43
rd
spark burn on the graph of position vs. time. The
slope is then calculated to find the instantaneous velocity at that point:

The velocity calculated by the tangent method for the 43
rd
spark burn is ,
whereas the tabulated is . These two values are equal within error. This is correct
since the approximation was done by using a small time interval. Also, the tangential method is
very accurate way of finding instantaneous velocity, except when systematic errors caused by
experimenters occur.
The qualitative sketch can be found on Figure 5 at the back. The acceleration is positive
and decreasing from to . At , the acceleration is zero. From to
, the acceleration is negative and decreasing. From to , the
acceleration is still negative, but increasing. This can be closely represented by the simple
harmonic motion that is non-uniform, where velocity is a shift of a quarter of a period of the
position graph, and acceleration is a shift of one half.
The qualitative manner showing how the velocity and acceleration vary with respect to
time for a body moving is shown in Figure 6, attached at the back.
Conclusion
By using an air car that was dragged off by a weight, and then being pulled back by a
spring, data was obtained to relate its position, velocity, and acceleration. Instantaneous
velocity was approximated by calculating the average velocity around the point over a small
time interval of 0.1 seconds. It was realized that a large time interval would not be appropriate,
since the glider experienced non-uniform acceleration. Using the tangent method also
produced an accurate representation of instantaneous velocity. Furthermore, velocity and
acceleration were shown to vary with respect to time in a manner close to a shift of a
trigonometric function.