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Prepared by:
John Capps
TraVaughn Montgomery
Rodney Pujada
January 2016
Experiment No 3:
I.
II.
Acceleration of A Mass on
A Ramp
PURPOSE
The purpose of this experiment is to measure the acceleration of a mass on a
ramp and compare the result to the theoretical prediction obtained through
Newtons second Law of motion which predicts that the acceleration due to
gravity of an object is independent of objects mass.
INTRODUCTION
Newtons Second
Law and Universal Law of gravity quantify Galileos observations. For an object
on a frictionless incline plane (=0), the acceleration of the object along the
direction of motion is related to the angle of inclination and the acceleration due
to gravity, g, by (see free body diagram):
III.
PROCEDURE
a) We made sure that the air track was level.
b) We raised the air track at the end with the single leg by placing two blocks
under it.
c) We then measured the height (h) and the Length (H) of the air track and
calculated sin() using sin() = h/H. The theoretical acceleration was
measured at aT = g*sin(), which in our case was
26.868858 cm/s2
d) We then slid the rider down the track while measurements in .1 second
increments where being recorded on a strip of tape.
e) We then took the same measurements with the rider going up the track.
f) We determined the velocity by calculating displacement / time.
g) We calculated the experimental acceleration by calculating velocity/ time
for downhill and uphill acceleration. Then took the average of the two to
cancel out any errors.
Downhill Acceleration is 28.485 cm/s2
Uphill Acceleration is -30.063 cm/s2
IV.
Time
(secon
d)
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
2.0
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
3.0
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
X
(cm)
9.72
11.01
12.6
14.51
16.68
19.02
21.79
24.8
28.04
31.62
35.5
39.58
44.02
48.75
53.7
59.01
64.6
70.45
76.65
83.08
89.8
96.85
104.13
111.72
119.6
127.72
136.15
144.82
153.88
163.2
172.7
182.55
192.65
203.07
213.7
224.68
x
(cm)
Average
velocity
2.88
14.4
4.08
20.4
5.11
25.55
6.25
31.25
7.46
37.3
8.52
42.6
9.68
48.4
10.9
54.5
12.05
60.25
13.15
65.75
14.33
71.65
15.47
77.35
16.55
82.75
17.73
88.65
18.82
94.1
19.95
99.75
21.05
105.25
4.2 Graph the average velocity by Downhill in our air track equipment.
Graph No
Downhill .
Time
(seco
nd)
0.1
0.3
0.5
0.7
0.9
1.1
1.3
1.5
1.7
1.9
2.1
2.3
2.5
2.7
2.9
3.1
3.3
3.5
Averag
e
velocity
14.4
20.4
25.6
31.3
37.3
37.3
42.6
48.4
54.5
60.3
65.8
71.7
77.4
82.8
88.7
94.1
99.8
105.3
Accelera
tion
(cm/s2)
144.0
68.0
51.1
44.6
41.4
33.9
32.8
32.3
32.1
31.7
31.3
31.2
30.9
30.6
30.6
30.4
30.2
30.1
Average
Velocity
4.3 Tabulate the data for Uphill in our air track equipment.
by
Data
#
Time
(seco
nd)
X
(cm)
x
(cm)
Avera
ge
veloci
ty
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
2.0
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
3.0
3.1
3.2
47
56.9
66.4
75.8
84.7
93.4
101.8
109.8
117.6
125.1
132.2
138.9
145.6
151.9
157.9
163.5
168.9
173.9
178.6
183.2
187.3
191.2
194.7
198
201
203.6
206
208.1
209.8
210.2
212.4
213.3
214.1
19.4
97
18.3
91.5
17.1
85.5
15.8
79
14.6
73
13.4
67
12.3
61.5
11
55
9.7
48.5
8.7
43.5
7.4
37
6.3
31.5
25
3.8
19
2.6
13
1.7
8.5
4.4 Graph the average velocity by Uphill in our air track equipment.
Table No 2: Average Velocity by Uphill .
Time
(seco
nd)
Graph
.
4.5.
No
0.1
0.3
0.5
0.7
0.9
1.1
1.3
1.5
1.7
1.9
2.1
2.3
2.5
2.7
2.9
3.1
3.3
Avera
ge
veloci
ty
97
91.5
85.5
79
73
67
61.5
55
48.5
43.5
37
31.5
25
19
13
8.5
0
Accelerat
ion
(cm/s2)
970.0
305.0
171.0
112.9
81.1
60.9
47.3
36.7
28.5
22.9
17.6
13.7
10.0
7.0
4.5
2.7
0.0
Data:
H = 250 cm
h = H * Sin () = 6.855 cm
Resolve for Sin () = 6.855/250
Sin () = 0.02742
4.5.2 Calculate the acceleration theorycal
By F= Ma and F = M*g Sin () we compare.
M*a = M*g Sin ()
a = g Sin ()
a = g Sin
()
DATA: g =979.9 cm/s2 and Sin = 0.02742
a = g Sin ()
a = ( 979.9 cm/s2 )(0.0262)
a = 26.87 cm/s2
a = 26.87
cm/s2
4.5.2 Calculate the percent of error from Graph No 1 and No 2
DATA:
For Downhill experiment:
Experimental Acceleration (cm/s2) = 28.485 cm/s2
Theorycal Acceleration (cm/s2) = 26.87 cm/s2
For Uphill experiment:
Experimental Acceleration (cm/s2) = 30.063 cm/s2
Theorycal Acceleration (cm/s2) = 26.87 cm/s2
Percent error = ( Ac practical Ac theorycal) x 100 %
. Formula No 2
Ac theorycal
Using the formula No 2 to evaluate percent of error for downhill
Percent error = (28.485 - 26.87) x 100 % = -6 %
26.87
Percent error =
-6 %
Using the formula No 2 to evaluate percent of error for Uphill
Percent error = (30.063 - 26.87) x 100 % = -6 %
26.87
V.
Percent error =
-11.9 %
Results
Acceleration
Downhill
Uphill
Experimental Acceleration
(cm/s2)
28.485
30.063
26.87
26.87
-6.0
-11.9
The
VII References
Department of Physics and Astronomy (Editionn1.1,University Bookstore
Custom Publising, pp. 4-9
http://www.santarosa.edu/~lwillia2/41/40samplelab1.pdf