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    Measuring The Acceleration Due To Gravity Lab

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    api-616433899
    This document describes an experiment to measure the acceleration due to gravity by tracking the position of a falling object over time, finding that the measured acceleration was 5.727 m/s^2 compared to the accepted value of 9.8 m/s^2, and identifying potential sources of error like measurement inaccuracies that could explain the difference. Questions are also included about how changing variables like object mass or data collection rate could impact the results.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Measuring The Acceleration Due To Gravity Lab

    Uploaded by

    api-616433899
    69 views6 pages
    This document describes an experiment to measure the acceleration due to gravity by tracking the position of a falling object over time, finding that the measured acceleration was 5.727 m/s^2 compared to the accepted value of 9.8 m/s^2, and identifying potential sources of error like measurement inaccuracies that could explain the difference. Questions are also included about how changing variables like object mass or data collection rate could impact the results.

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    measuring the acceleration due to gravity lab

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    This document describes an experiment to measure the acceleration due to gravity by tracking the position of a falling object over time, finding that the measured acceleration was 5.727 m/s^2 compared to the accepted value of 9.8 m/s^2, and identifying potential sources of error like measurement inaccuracies that could explain the difference. Questions are also included about how changing variables like object mass or data collection rate could impact the results.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    69 views6 pages

    Measuring The Acceleration Due To Gravity Lab

    Uploaded by

    api-616433899
    This document describes an experiment to measure the acceleration due to gravity by tracking the position of a falling object over time, finding that the measured acceleration was 5.727 m/s^2 compared to the accepted value of 9.8 m/s^2, and identifying potential sources of error like measurement inaccuracies that could explain the difference. Questions are also included about how changing variables like object mass or data collection rate could impact the results.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 6

    Measuring the Acceleration due to Gravity Lab

    Raw Data Table:

    Position vs. Time

    Time (s) Position (m)

    0.0167 0.009

    0.0333 0.02

    0.05 0.035

    0.0667 0.053

    0.0833 0.072

    0.1 0.095

    0.117 0.12

    0.133 0.147

    0.15 0.177

    0.167 0.21

    0.183 0.245

    0.2 0.283

    0.217 0.323

    0.233 0.365

    0.25 0.41

    0.267 0.458

    0.283 0.508

    0.3 0.561

    0.317 0.617

    0.333 0.675

    0.35 0.737
    0.367 0.8

    0.383 0.868

    0.4 0.939

    Raw Graph:
    Transformed Data Table:

    Position vs. Time

    Time (s2) Position (m)

    0.000279 0.009
    0.00111 0.02
    0.0025 0.035
    0.00445 0.053
    0.00694 0.072
    0.01 0.095
    0.0137 0.12
    0.0177 0.147
    0.0225 0.177
    0.0279 0.21
    0.0335 0.245
    0.04 0.283
    0.0471 0.323
    0.0543 0.365
    0.0625 0.41
    0.0713 0.458
    0.0801 0.508
    0.09 0.561
    0.1005 0.617
    0.111 0.675
    0.123 0.737
    0.135 0.8
    0.147 0.868
    0.16 0.939
    Transformed Graph:
    Determining the Acceleration due to Gravity:

    Our transformed graph uses time in seconds squared (s2) for its x-values and
    position in meters (m) for its y-values. As a result of this, Logger Pro states that
    the slope of our graph is about 5.727 m/s2. Since acceleration is measured in
    m/s2 and the slope of our graph has this unit, the acceleration due to gravity in
    our lab must be 5.727 m/s2.

    Results:

    My calculated value for the acceleration due to gravity is 5.727 m/s2, and the
    accepted value for the acceleration due to gravity is approximately 9.8 m/s2.
    Even though both of these values are in m/s2, my calculated value is smaller than
    the accepted value for the acceleration due to gravity.

    Sources of Error:

    ● The spark timer’s accuracy


    ● The position measurements my group took
    ● The meter stick’s accuracy
    ● The way my group rounded our values
    ● LoggerPro’s accuracy with calculating equations for my group’s data

    Questions:

    1. Of all the sources of error listed above, which do you believe had the
    greatest impact on your result? I believe that the position measurements
    my group took had the greatest impact on our result because the lab
    heavily relied on our measurements, and there is a large possibility that
    some of them were a few millimeters off.
    2. If the mass of the object attached to the tape was a heavy bowling ball,
    what effect would that have on your result? Explain. The effect would be a
    higher acceleration because the mass of the bowling ball would cause the
    ticker tape to pass through the spark timer faster than the mass my group
    used.
    3. If the mass of the object attached to the tape was a small paper clip, what
    effect would that have on your result? Explain. The effect would be a lower
    acceleration because the mass of the paper clip would cause the ticker
    tape to pass through the spark timer slower than the mass my group used.
    4. If the rate at which the data was collected was increased to 120
    points/second, what effect would that have on your result? Explain. This
    would have no effect on my result because, even if there are more points
    that will require more positions and times to be tracked, if all the points
    change by a constant amount, my result will be the same.

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