Lab 4 Newton's Laws and Atwood machine

Name:___________________________________
I. Data & Analysis
Pulley Mass: _______________________String Mass:____________________
me = _____________________________
Part A1:
Data Table 1:
1
Frictional Mass
mf
Descending Mass
m1
Ascending Mass
m2
Travel Distance
y
Travel Time
Run 1
Travel Time
Run 2
Travel Time
Run 3
Average Travel
Time
t
Experimental
Acceleration
a
Unbalanced Force
F
Total Mass
M
Computed
Acceleration
a
Percent Difference
in Accelerations

Record Units!
3

PART B:
Air Track Cart Mass: __________________
_______________

Hanging Mass:

Theoretical Acceleration: _____________________

Calculations:

Height of the hanging mass: __________

_________
Data Table 3:
Time for
hanging
mass to
reach
bottom
Run 1
Run 2
Run 3
Run 4
Average

Timer One
Value

Length of air track carts flag:

Record Units!
Timer Two
Timer Three
Value
Value

Computed Velocity at Timer One: ___________

Computed Velocity at Timer Two: ___________

_________

Computed Acceleration:

Computed Acceleration From Hanging Mass Data: _________________

Percent Difference: _____________

Percent Error of Cart Acceleration: __________________

Percent Error of Hanging Mass Acceleration: __________

PART C:
Investigation One:
Mass of m2:

Mass of m1:

Investigation Two:
Mass of m2:

Mass of m1 plus mass of pulley:

Investigation Three:
Mass of m2:

Mass of m1 plus mass of pulleys:

Weight computations:
Investigation One:
Weight of m2:

Weight of m1:

Investigation Two:
Weight of m2:

Weight of m1 plus mass of pulley:

Investigation Three:
Weight of m2: ,

Weight of m1 plus mass of pulleys:

POST LABORATORY EXERCISE

The Atwood Machine & Newtons Laws
Part A:
1. How would the acceleration of the system vary when the total mass of the
system changes, assuming that the unbalanced force is constant?
2. How would the acceleration of the system vary when the unbalanced
force is changed, assuming that the total mass remains constant?
3. The mass of the string was included in the total mass, but not in the
unbalanced force, even though there is sometimes more string on one
side of the pulley than on the other. Why is it valid to ignore the mass of
the string in the unbalanced force?

4. What would be the acceleration of an Atwood machine having a mass of

230g on one side and a mass of 237g on the other side. Neglect the
masses of the pulley and the string.
Part B:
1. In Part B, which method of computing the acceleration do you think was
more accurate, and why?
2. For Part B, suppose that you lifted the end of the air track that had the
pulley on it. What would be the maximum angle that the air track could
be tilted before the hanging mass would no longer fall downward?
3. How might you determine what effect friction is having in this
experiment?

5 | The Atwood Machine & Newtons Laws

Part C:
1)
Draw free body diagrams for the hanging mass m1 and the attached
pulleys for the first two investigations.

2)
Using the free body diagrams, determine the tension expected in the
strings in the first two investigations. Compare these tensions to the weights of
hanging mass m2 for each case.

3)

What conclusions can you draw from this experiment?

6 | The Atwood Machine & Newtons Laws