Lab: Fre in e T In: Read The Entire Investigation

Lab: Free Fall Investigation
Background Information
Free fall is the movement of an object toward Earth due to gravity. An object that
is in free fall experiences acceleration due to gravity. Acceleration is the rate of
change of velocity. Acceleration occurs when there is a change in speed, change
in direction, or both. During free fall, speed increases at a constant rate.
Purpose
The objective of this investigation is to measure and compare the rates of

acceleration of two freely falling objects with different masses.
Questions
• How can the acceleration of a free falling object be described?

• Is it constant or changing?
• Is it directed upward or downward?
• Is there a magnitude that is commonly associated with it?
Problem
What effect does mass have on the time an object takes to fall?
Pre-Lab Discussion
Read the entire investigation.
1. Identify the Controlling Variables
Identify these variables for this investigation:
a. Manipulated variable- objects I dropped

b. Responding variable- time the object took to fall
c. Controlled variables- air resistance, temperature, distance between the initial
and final velocity, etc.
2. Formulate a Hypothesis
“Mass does not affect the acceleration due to gravity in any measurable way. The
two quantities are independent of one another. Light objects accelerate more
slowly than heavy objects only when forces other than gravity are also at work.”
Materials
• Stopwatch
• A coin
• My diary
• Tape measure
Procedure
Part A: Measuring time of fall
(Note: Ask someone to help you measure the time of fall.)
1. Use the stopwatch to measure the time the coin takes to fall from one point to
the other. Record this time as t₁ in Data Table 1. Repeat this steps twice for the
coin and record times of fall as t₂ and t₃ respectively.
2. Measure the vertical displacement the coin has travelled, exactly between the
initial and final position. Record the displacement as d in Data Table 1.
3. Calculate the average of the three falls for the coin and note this value as tavg
in Data Table 1.
4. Rearrange d=½*a*t² and use the derived equation to calculate the acceleration
due to gravity, a.
5. Record the calculated value of acceleration from step 4 in Data Table 1, and
this will be the experimental value for acceleration due to gravity.
6. Calculate the percentage error of the experimental value using the formula:
[PERCENTAGE ERROR={(EXPERIMENTAL VALUE-ACCEPTED VALUE)/
ACCEPTED VALUE}*100]
7. Repeat steps 1-6 for the diary and note down all the values in Data Table 2.
Please note that the displacement is unchanged so Step 2 isn’t repeated.
DATA TABLE 1
d t1 t2 t3 tavg a
2.3 0.609 0.6 0.65 0.62 11.97

PERCENTAGE ERROR: 22.14%
DATA TABLE 2
d t1 t2 t3 tavg a
2.3 0.652 0.677 0.63 0.653 10.78

PERCENTAGE ERROR: 10%
*ALL UNITS ARE IN METRES, SECONDS AND METRE PER SECONDS

SQUARED.
SAMPLE CALCULATIONS:
Results & Conclusions: The percentage error is quite big and the difference
between them is quite big as well. But one thing is for sure the diary had more
surface area so experienced more air resistance and so it has lesser
acceleration. In one sentence it faced more drag. But if this experiment was
carried out in a vacuum or in space both would’ve fallen at the same time as
mass does not affect the acceleration due to gravity. It's always constant and the
same. There could also have been parallax errors while the measurements of the
displacement were taken. The timing of starting and ending the stopwatch may
have not been accurate and thus the overall output was far from the accepted
value. But I have always learnt one thing, there will always be errors in scientific
experiments and the yield or output will never match the theoretical value.
SOURCES AND WEBSITES: https://www.toppr.com/guides/physics-formulas/free-fall-formula/,

https://physics.info/falling/,
https://www.kbcc.cuny.edu/academicdepartments/physci/Documents/labmanuals/phy11_13/Exp
eriment2.pdf.

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Lab: Free Fall Investigation

The objective of this investigation is to measure and compare the rates of

• How can the acceleration of a free falling object be described?

Read the entire investigation.

1. Identify the Controlling Variables

Identify these variables for this investigation:

a. Manipulated variable- objects I dropped

Part A: Measuring time of fall

(Note: Ask someone to help you measure the time of fall.)

2.3 0.609 0.6 0.65 0.62 11.97

2.3 0.652 0.677 0.63 0.653 10.78

*ALL UNITS ARE IN METRES, SECONDS AND METRE PER SECONDS

SOURCES AND WEBSITES: https://www.toppr.com/guides/physics-formulas/free-fall-formula/,

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