The Physics Laboratory

H Y S I C S

L A B O R ATO R Y

M A N U A L

Welcome to the Physics Laboratory at Temple University. In this experiment,

1
Lab

you are introduced to equipment and methods that will be used throughout
the semester, so take an active role in familiarizing yourself with all of the
components of the setup and how they work. The computer will be used for
both data acquisition and analysis. Data is first acquired by a probe or sensor
that connects with the computer via an interface. This data will then be
analyzed with Excel. If you are not already familiar with the basic functions of Excel,
especially calculations and plotting data, it is important that you gain proficiency in these areas
quickly as Excel will be used for most of the experiments in this course.

H Y S I C S

L A B O R ATO R Y

M A N U A L

A P PAR AT U S

computer with LabPro interface and

LoggerPro software, photogate on a

P ic k e t
fe n c e

Figure 1. Experimental setup showing picket fence just before passing through the photogate. Source: Vernier

stand, picket fence

Part I. Experimenting with Logger Pro

The photogate is essentially a stopwatch that uses a beam of infrared light to

record the time. The photogate signals the computer to record the whenever
the light beam that passes between its arms is broken by an object.
1. Setup the photogate and stand as in Figure 1 with the photogate
extending beyond the edge of the table. To avoid damaging the picket
fence, make sure it has a soft surface (e.g. foam pad) to land on.
2. Connect the photogate to the DIG/SONIC 1 input of the LabPro interface.
Notice other ports on the interface; you will be using them for future
experiments.
3. Open the LoggerPro file Lab #1 The Physics Laboratory.
4. To test whether the photogate is working properly, check whether the Gate
State reading in the status bar at the top left of the screen shows blocked
and unblocked. Another way of testing the photogate is to see whether
the red indicator light on the back of the photogate blinks as you pass
your hand through it. If it does not seem to be working properly, look back
over these steps and the settings in the software to try to figure out why
on your own. Only after youve done this should you ask for help.
5. Click Collect to start data collection. Hold the picket fence above the
photogate and release it vertically such that it falls through the photogate
beam; be sure to fully release the picket fence before it enters the
photogate so that it is truly in free fall.
6. Click Stop to end data collection. Copy and paste the velocity and time
data into Excel.
7. To establish whether your measurements are reliable and reproducible,
repeat Steps 5 and 6 until you have data for 6 runs in all. Exclude data
from trials in which the picket fence does not pass cleanly through the
photogate. Part II describes plotting the data for further analysis.
8. For your last run, also copy the distance vs. time data into Excel. We will
make a plot of one of these runs to compare and contrast it to velocity vs.
time.

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Photogate
w/ stand.

Part II. Plotting Data in Excel

We know that the picket fence is experiencing a constant acceleration due to
gravity, so we can apply the kinematic equations to analyze its behavior. We
have measured velocity and time, so it makes sense to use this equation to
calculate acceleration:
v =v o +at .
(1)
1. Open Excel and make a coordinate plot of velocity vs. time ( Insert Scatter
chart type) for your first trial. Then right click on the plot and choose
Select Data Add to add your other runs. In this way you have all 6 runs
plotted on the same graph, but as individual data series.
2. Which variable, velocity or time, goes on the x-axis? Why?

3. For each trial, fit your data to a line by adding a trendline to the plot by
selecting Layout Trendline More Trendline Options from the Chart Tools menu.
Choose the linear fit and select the option to display the equation of the
trendline. This procedure fits your data to a line y=mx +b where m is
the slope and b is the y-intercept. Record the slope in a data table. Add
all appropriate titles and labels (with units!) to your graphs. These same
plotting methods will be used throughout the semester.

4. Describe in words the shape of the velocity vs. time graph. What is the
meaning if the slope?
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5. Also, use the data from your last run to make a plot of vertical distance vs.
time. Again, add all appropriate titles and labels to your graph.

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6. Describe in words the shape of the distance vs. time graph for the free
fall. How should this look (linear, quadratic, etc.)?
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Part III. Further Data Analysis: Reproducibility and

Distributions
The purpose of performing an experiment is to gain knowledge about an
unknown quantity (the value of g , for example) but before we go around
claiming that we know g , we must confirm our result and, even better,
make an estimate as to how reliable our result is. The first step in
determining the reliability is to do multiple identical trials, or replicates of our
experiment. After recording all the data, we will use Excel to calculate the
average, and standard deviation of our results.
1. Referring to Equation 1, extract the values for v o and a from the
equation of your trendline for each run. Record these in a new data table
with three columns: one column each for the Run #, v o (m/s), and a
(m/s2).
2. Look at your list of 6 slope values (i.e. acceleration values) and, in one or
two qualitative sentences, report how reproducible your acceleration results
appear (e.g. very similar values, widely varying from one trial to the next,
etc.).
3. The first step in data analysis is usually to find the average of a set of
values. The average is a simple way of removing random variation and
errors in the data. Thus, we will call the average our best estimate of the
true value of g . Note: one must be careful to only average together
values from identical trials. To find the average click in the first empty cell
below your column of values and type without quotes =average( Then
highlight your 6 values and hit enter. The equation should calculate the
average for you. You can also manually enter the equation by typing
=average(A1:A6) when your data is in cells A1 through A6, for example.
This is your best estimate of the value of g . Did you get close to the
accepted value of 9.8 m/s2?

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4. The second step in data analysis is to determine the standard deviation of the
mean for the 6 acceleration values. The standard deviation of the mean is a
measure of how much difference there is between each data point and the
average. Thus, standard deviation is high if there is a lot of spread in the
data, and low if the data points are all very close. To calculate standard
deviation, click in the cell just below your average and type =stdevp(
and then highlight your 6 acceleration values and hit enter. Basically, you
are doing the same steps as you did for the average, just replacing the
command average with stdevp.
5. Is your standard deviation low when compared to the value of your
average? As a rough guideline, a standard deviation less than 10% of your
average is OK (but the lower the better!). Does this standard deviation
seem reasonable with what you put for your quantitative description of
reproducibility (item no. 2 above)? This shows how standard deviation is a
measure of reproducibility.
6. The equation for standard deviation of the mean of a variable
x=

is:

( x ix avg)2
n
(2)

where x i are your individual values of g , and x avg is the average

value of g , and the equation is summed from i = 1 to 6 in our case.
Looking at this equation, what would the standard deviation be if all of
your measured values were the same? Explain.
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In your lab report, write your best estimate of the value for
average the standard deviation: g g .

as the

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7. Now look at how your values relate to the accepted value of 9.8 m/s 2. Do
all of your values fall higher or lower than 9.8? If so, there may be a
systematic error in the experiment, such as inaccurate timing
measurement by the photogates. Alternatively, there could be other forces
at work besides gravity, meaning the assumption that the acceleration is
only due to gravity is wrong. Include any sources of error here, and
always be sure to mention them in your future lab reports.
8. Error propagation. So we have a value for g and an estimate of error in
the form of the standard deviation. If we want to calculate the force F
on the picket fence using the equation F=mg , we can simply multiply
what we got for average g times the mass m of the picket fence.
However, F will also have error associated with it, due to the fact that
g was used to calculate it thus the error propagates through from g
to F .
To find F and its associated error, first measure the mass of the picket
fence using the scales provided. For the error of the mass measurement,
we will use a common technique of taking half of the smallest interval on
the scale, which is 0.05 grams for most of our scales. Example: if your
picket fence weighs 84.55 grams, you report the value ( m m ) as 84.55
0.05 grams. Next, calculate F by multiplying your average g
times 84.55 g. Finally, calculate F using the error propagation formula
below for which you will need your values g and m .

Equation:

F=mg

Error Propagation Formula:

F =F

(3)
Finally, report your calculated force as

m 2 g
+
m
g

)( )

FF .

Additional Questions:
1. Looking at the data, you should notice that the time values are getting
smaller and smaller the farther the picket fence falls. Why is this?

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2. How does the computer know the velocity when all it is measuring is
time? Hint: the other part of the equation for average velocity.
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3. It is very useful to understand the effects of errors, both to prevent them
and to account for unexpected results. When you drop the picket fence,
the markers are perpendicular with the photogate beam. How your results
be affected if the picket fence was dropped at an angle through the
photogate?
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How would your value for acceleration from your graph be affected if
you let the photogate slide from your fingers rather than releasing it
cleanly?
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4. Using calculus, how do you determine (1) velocity from position, and (2)
acceleration from position?
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Include all graphs, data tables, and answers to questions in your lab report.
Enter here notes for use in writing your lab report. You will write your report
outside of class, so if you look at the lab report grading rubric for what is to
be included in your report, youll see that it will help you quite a lot to make
notes on the procedure, sources of error, answers to discussion questions,
and reminders to look up reference material from your text, etc.

Notes:

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