PHY166 Lab Freefall PDF

Free fall
Objectives
Acceleration is the rate at which the velocity of an object changes over time.
An object’s acceleration is the result of the sum of all the forces acting on
the object, as described by Newton’s second law. Under ideal circumstances,
gravity is the only force acting on a freely falling object. In this lab, you
will measure the displacement of a freely falling object, calculate the average
velocity of a falling object at set time intervals, and calculate the object’s
acceleration due to gravity. The objectives of this experiment are as follows:
1. to measure the displacement of a freely falling object,
2. to test the hypothesis that the acceleration of a freely falling object is

uniform,
3. to calculate the uniform acceleration of a falling object due to gravity,

g.
Theory
The instant when the ball is released is considered to be the initial time
t = 0. The position of the ball along the ruler is described by the variable
y. The position of the ball at a time t is given by
1
y(t) = y0 + v0 t + gt2 . (1)
2
If the ball is released from rest, the initial velocity is zero: v0 = 0.
Therefore,
1
y(t) = y0 + gt2 . (2)
2
1
Accepted values
The acceleration due to gravity varies slightly, depending on the latitude
and the height above the earths surface. In this experiment the change in
height of the falling object is negligible and can be approximated as 0 km for
its entire descent. The acceleration due to gravity at 40◦ 520 2100 N latitude
(the latitude of Lehman College) and 0 km altitude is
g = 9.802 m/s2 . (3)
Apparatus
The setup, depicted in Fig. 1, is composed of the following parts:
• electromagnet, • timer,
• steel ball, • power supply,
• ruler, • paper cup.
• mobile photogate,
The power supply provides an output of 5 V to an electromagnet. When

the switch is in the on position, the electromagnet can hold the steel ball
under it. Once the timer is set to the off position, current stops circulating
through the electromagnet, and the ball starts falling.
The sudden change in the current circulating through the magnet pro-
duces, following Lenz’s law, a short current peak that propagates through
the red wire in Fig. 1. Part of this wire is placed in parallel to the wire
attaching the unused photogate to the timer (blue wire in Fig. 1). The
current in the blue wire produces a magnetic field around it. The red wire,
when sufficiently close to the blue one, is affected by this magnetic field,
which induces a current on it. This current, in the form of a short peak, is
interpreted by the timer as an interruption of the photogate, triggering the
timer.
Using these principles, the setup allows to have a precise account of
the initial time, since the timer starts counting when the ball is released.
The second trigger of the timer happens when the ball goes through the
photogate. In this moment, the timer stops counting. Therefore, the timer
indicates the time (in seconds) it took the ball to go from the top position
to the photogate.
2
Moving the photogate to different heights and measuring the time the
ball takes to fall will provide the information necessary to measure the ac-
celeration of gravity.
electromagnet
magnet clamp
ball
photogate clamp
photogate
vertical rod
power supply
ruler
0:2791
timer paper cup

switch
Figure 1: Experimental setup.
Procedure
1. Adjust the top clamp (the one holding the magnet) in such a way that,
with the ruler standing on the table, the center of the ball is at about
the same height as the zero of the ruler (see Fig. 2);
2. turn on the timer by moving the switch to the pulse mode;
3. adjust the height of the bottom clamp (the one holding the photogate)
to around 10 cm below the magnet;
4. align the photogate with the electromagnet so that the ball will pass
through the photogate while falling. To do so, you can rotate the
clamp around the vertical rod, and adjust the photogate along the
horizontal rod. To check that the alignment is correct, hold the top
of the ruler right below the magnet so that it doesn’t touch the table,
and make sure that the ruler goes through the photogate (see Fig. 3);
3
Figure 2: Setup for the mag- Figure 3: Alignment of the
net holder. photogate.
5. measure the position of the photogate, and record it on the table as a

value for y;
6. switch on the magnet, and place the ball under it, making sure that
it remains there;
7. hold a paper cup right below the photogate to catch the ball when it
falls;
8. while paying attention to the timer, switch the magnet off. The ball
will fall. Three outcomes are possible:
(a) the timer starts and stops immediately, showing a really small
value (like 0.0001). In this case, disregard this value and measure
again,
(b) the timer doesn’t start when the magnet is switched off, but it
starts later when the ball goes through the photogate. Therefore,
the timer keeps running after the ball has fallen. In this case,
press reset and measure again,
(c) the timer starts when the magnet is switched off, and stops when
the ball goes through the photogate. In this case, record the time
on the table as a value for t;
4
9. move the photogate to a position around 10 cm below the previous
position;
10. measure again: repeat steps 4 to 9 until there is no more space to keep
the paper cup under the photogate (around 80 cm).
Troubleshooting
If the timer never starts when the switch is changed to the off position,
it could be due to several reasons. First, check that when it is in the on
position, the electromagnet is able to hold the ball. If this is not the case,
it is possible that there is a short in the circuit. Turn the power supply off
and ask your instructor for help. If the magnet is able to hold the ball, but
the timer doesn’t start when switched off, a possible solution is to connect
the red and black power cables to the front of the power supply, rather than
to the back, and selecting a bit higher voltage (around 6 V).
Data
y( ) t( ) t2 ( )
5
Calculations and analysis
1. Fill in the right column of the data table calculating the square of each
time value. For simplicity, you can do this on a spreadsheet computer
software;
2. using a spreadsheet software (preferable), or using plotting paper ac-

cording to the methods described on page 6 of the lab manual, make
a distance-time squared plot of the points in the second and third
columns of the table. Assign distance (y) to the vertical axis, and
time squared (t2 ) to the horizontal axis;
3. make a fit of the plotted data to a straight line using either the spread-
sheet software or a straight edge (as described on page 6 of the lab
manual);
4. find the slope and the intercept of the best fit straight line. A general
straight line is given by
y = ax + b,
where a is the slope and b the intercept. Comparing this equation to
(2) find y0 and g from the slope and the intercept of the fit;
5. calculate the percent difference between the value you obtained for g
and the accepted value (3);
6. describe the meaning of y0 and whether or not the value you obtained
matches your expectations.

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What is the objective of this experiment?

What variables are measured in this experiment?

Free fall

1. to measure the displacement of a freely falling object,

2. to test the hypothesis that the acceleration of a freely falling object is

3. to calculate the uniform acceleration of a falling object due to gravity,

g = 9.802 m/s2 . (3)

• steel ball, • power supply,

• ruler, • paper cup.

The power supply provides an output of 5 V to an electromagnet. When

timer paper cup

Figure 1: Experimental setup.

2. turn on the timer by moving the switch to the pulse mode;

5. measure the position of the photogate, and record it on the table as a

2. using a spreadsheet software (preferable), or using plotting paper ac-

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