Free Fall Lab

Freefall
Michael Argyris, Co Dang, Raymond Hsu, and Haley Lam

Physics 1A CRN #50818
Professor Justin Lancaster
May 20th, 2015
Abstract: The free fall motion of a body was investigated by taping a white strip of paper
from the top to the bottom of the electromagnetic stand and dropping a metal cylinder from
the top. As the cylinder fell, sparks were generated at a frequency of 1 spark every 1/30th of
a second, leaving marks on the strip that represent the displacement as a function of time.
The local g can only be found through the falling object that is under the motion of constant
acceleration, meaning gravity (g= 9.8 m / s or 979.46 cm / s ), is in effect. After measuring
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the displacement between each spark, and using the equation y = y + V t + at , we

0
calculated g to be 957.5 cm / s . Our error was found to be 2.244647%.

2
Theory: The position of a moving body under constant acceleration, in correlation to time,
can be calculated by the equation, y = y + V t + at where y represents the current
0
position of the body, y is the initial position of the body, v is the initial velocity of the body, t
0
represents the time, and a represents the acceleration of the body.The body is the object
that is in motion with constant acceleration. Constant acceleration suggests that air
resistance is negligible and gravitational forces remain consistent. Whether an object is
rising or falling down, the object is under the influence of gravity, g= 9.8 m / s . In this
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experiment, our body was a metal cylinder which was attached to an electromagnet at the
top of a Free Fall Pole. A strip of wax paper hung from the top of the Free Fall Pole and
stretched down to the ground. The paper was also aligned in between two wires. By
switching the Precision Spark Source on, and pressing down on the Spark Source Control,
a high voltage spark was produced. When the Central Battery Charger was switched off, the
current that held the metal cylinder to the electromagnet was cut off, and the metal cylinder
dropped in free falling motion, leaving small marks on the paper tape. The marks were
created by the sparks that fell with the metal cylinder. The metal cylinder acts as a motion
under constant acceleration and represents displacement as a function of time. The goal in
this lab is to determine the local g by using the uniform acceleration equation, and to
evaluate the effectiveness of the equation in predicting acceleration.
Equipment List:
Free Fall Pole by Central Scientific Co.
Central Battery Charger, Model #87151C
Metal Cylinder
Paper Tape
Precision Spark Source, Serial #37393
Ruler
Computer with Excel
Procedure:
1. Tape one long strip of paper to the top of the Free Fall Pole.
2. Hang the metal cylinder to the electromagnet at the top of the Free Fall Pole.
3. Switch the Precision Spark Source that provides the electricity for the metal object,
on.
4. Press the button on the Precision Spark Source Control down, to create high voltage
sparks.
5. Have another partner switch the Central Battery Charger off in order to cut off the
electric current and as a result, drop the metal cylinder from the electromagnet.
6. Finally, check to see if the marks are clearly present on the long strip of white paper
before releasing the tape. Each mark should have a traveled distance between them.
7. Measure the distance between each mark by using a ruler.Skip the first mark.
8. Input each marks distance from the second mark into the data sheet in Excel. The
distances should get increasingly larger as we go from the top of the paper to the
bottom.
Data:
Measurement
Distance cm.
StdDev of the
Mean
SDM as
%
First Second Third
Fourth Average cm.
3.6
3.8
3.2
3.4
3.5
0.129099
3.688556
8.3
8.6
7.5
8.1
8.125
0.232289
2.858946
14.1 14.5
13
13.6
13.8
0.324037
2.348094
20.9 21.4
19.4
20.3
20.5
0.430116
2.098128
28.8 29.3
27
27.9
28.25
0.507445
1.796264
37.7 38.4
35.6
36.6
37.075
0.615596
1.660407
47.7 48.5
45.2
46.5
46.975
0.720388
1.533555
58.8 59.8
56
57.5
58.025
0.822977
1.418315
71
71.9
67.8
69.4
70.025
0.904042
1.291027
10
84.3 85.2
80.6
82.4
83.125
1.024187
1.232104
11
98.5 99.6
94.5
96.7
97.325
1.115329
1.145984
Frequency, Hz
30
g, cm/s
979.46
Measur.
X/T
V/T
avg
SDM
% error in g
cm
cm
cm/s
cm/s
cm/s
3.5
8.125
4.625
138.75
13.8
5.675
170.25
31.5
945
20.5
6.7
201
30.75
922.5
28.25
7.75
232.5
31.5
945
37.075
8.825
264.75
32.25
967.5
46.975
9.9
297
32.25
967.5
58.025
11.05
331.5
34.5
1035
70.025
12
360
28.5
855
10
83.125
13.1
393
33
990
11
97.325
14.2
426
33
990
cm/s
957.5
cm/s
16.81703
2.244647
Error Analysis:
Our calculated g was 957.5 cm/s or 9.575 m/s and the accepted g is 9.8 m/s . There was a
2
2.244647% error in our experiment. Although the percent error was low, a percent error was
to be expected due to the nature of the experiment. One major source of error arose from
the the falling cylinder making, and keeping, contact with the pole and the paper tape as it
fell down. As it comes in contact with the paper tape, friction is created, thus decreasing the
velocity of the cylinder. The average velocity over time graph indicates a positive slope,
which means that velocity increases as time increases. Since R , the correlation coefficient,
2
is 0.9999, it is acceptable to use the equation: y=957.96x+3175.5to evaluate velocity, y, as a

function of time, x. In our data, there were a few instances where the velocity decreased
instead of increased, such as in measurements 7, 9, 10, and 11. As the velocity should
always be increasing as shown by the equation, it proved that during those measurements,
it was likely that the cylinder collided with the pole, as it is the only factor that could create a
notable resistance. The second source of error simply came from the small amount of trials
in our experiment. If we were to take only the first two measurements for acceleration from
our data, 945 cm/s and 922.5 cm/s , the average acceleration would result in 933.75 cm/s .
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An average acceleration of 933 cm/s would then result in a grand total of 4.67% error. So it
2
is obvious that as the amount of measurements increase, the accuracy of the data will also
increase, given friction was kept to a bare minimum. Finally, the last source of error was the
difficulty of measuring the small marks. The small marks made it difficult to measure the
displacement from one mark to another. One way that the experiment could be improved is
to have a larger drop distance. With a larger drop distance, there would be a larger sample
of measurements which when used in the uniform acceleration equation, y = y + V t +
0
at , leads to a more accurate g. Along with a larger drop distance, more trials are repeated
2
by measuring more paper tapes with incremented marks, would result in a more accurate
average acceleration. Lastly, in order to reduce friction, we could switch the equipment from
a cylindrical sparkler to simply any object, and use photogate timers placed at equal
distances away from each other. By using photogate timers we would be able to place the
pole further away from the drop point, and eliminate friction against the pole and the paper
tape.
Conclusion:
The equation for uniform acceleration, y = y + V t + at , can be used to make a reliable
0
prediction for the average acceleration of the metal cylinder if the displacement of the
sparks, the time per each displacement, and the velocity are known. By finding the
accelerations for each displacement, we can determine the average acceleration of the
cylinder as it drops from the electromagnet. The average acceleration, 9.575m/s ,
2
represents our local g. At a 2.244647% error, the local g calculated by the uniform
acceleration equation makes the equation a satisfactory prediction of acceleration.

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Freefall

Michael Argyris, Co Dang, Raymond Hsu, and Haley Lam

the displacement between each spark, and using the equation y = y + V t + at , we

calculated g to be 957.5 cm / s . Our error was found to be 2.244647%.

Free Fall Pole by Central Scientific Co.

Central Battery Charger, Model #87151C

Precision Spark Source, Serial #37393

Computer with Excel

First Second Third

Fourth Average cm.

is 0.9999, it is acceptable to use the equation: y=957.96x+3175.5to evaluate velocity, y, as a

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