FREE FALL

Fecha de realización:

Zoe Marrero Ramallo

Meritxell Meza Verdecia

Tanda C: Grupo 4

Profesor Encargado Jorge Méndez Ramos

3. Resumen.

In this practice the objective is to analyze the interaction of a body when attracted by
the gravity of the earth through an experimental study. Such an interaction is known
as free fall, and appears when a body drops from a certain height to allow the force
of gravity to act on it.

We will study the time it takes for objects with distinct masses to fall from different
heights to demonstrate that fall time will remain the same for all objects despite their
individual masses and density. Lastly, using the information taken, we will find the
gravitational acceleration from the graph which contains fall times at different
heights.

4. Fundamento Teórico.

In kinematics, free fall is a movement of a body where only gravity influences. This
movement is uniformly accelerated. Instantaneous acceleration is independent of
body mass, which means that if we drop a car and a chair, both would have the
same acceleration,which coincides with gravity.

It is confirmed that if the body is close to the surface of the earth,the acceleration of
gravity can be considered constant and its approximate value is:

The distance it travels is given by:

Since its initial speed is always equal to 0.

To understand the practice you have to know the meaning of the following concepts:
Initial velocity: initial speed of the object.
Final velocity: The final velocity reached by the object at the end of its fall.
Time: Period in which the action is performed.
Height: Length measure of a movement. Its unit is the meter.
Gravity: Force exerted by the Earth on all bodies towards their center.
Acceleration: Magnitude that indicates the speed variation by a unit of time.

5. Método Experimental.

MATERIALS:

● Free Fall Apparatus: It consists of a magnetic release mechanism that holds

the ball in its start position and a pad below for the ball to impact. The
apparatus measures the time it takes for a ball to fall a certain distance using
a digital timer.
● Digital Timer
● 2 Steel balls (different sizes)
● Vernier caliper: used for making accurate measurements

To carry out this experiment, we begin by measuring each of the steel ball`s diameter
with a vernier caliper and their masses with an electronic balance . Afterwards we
set the magnetic release mechanism at the height desired and place the steel ball,
then press start on the digital timer and the steel ball will be released. We repeat this
process with the two steel balls and subsequently make a table with the
measurements taken. This first part is to prove that their mass and size is
independent from fall time.

The next step is to only use one of the two steel balls to calculate its fall time at
various heights and eventually create a table using this information.
 6. Resultados y Discusión.

Steel ball 1: 28.5 g ; 19.1 mm

Steel ball 2: 8.45 g ; 12.9 mm

Free Fall Time of Different Objects

h =0.99 m

Object Time (s) t2 (s2)

Steel ball 1 0,44737 0.200

Steel ball 2 0,44968 0.202

In this part of the experiment we have calculated different size balls at the same
height however gravitational force remains the same as it is the only force acting on
the balls. Therefore fall time will be the same for both balls despite releasing balls
with distinct size and mass as shown above.

Free Fall Time at several heights

Steel ball 1

h (m) Time (s) t2(s2)

0,99 0,44737 0,2001

0,875 0,41998 0,1764

0,65 0,3609 0,1302

0.30 0,2408 0,0580

Gradient: 3,30405119
Gradient error: 0,18588334
Square parameter: 0,99370962

The relationship between height and time is not linear.

The relationship between height and time^2 is linear as clearly shown.

The next stage of the experiment is to calculate the value of the gravitational force.
Firstly we consider a formula from projectile motion since free fall is a special case of
projectile motion where the initial velocity is zero. Therefore we use the following
equations:

V0=0
y= h

Since velocity is zero, the equation will be:

y = h - ½ g t2
h = ½ g t2

Secondly, we calculate the gravitational force by equating the free fall equation with
the equation found from the graph above:

h = ½ g t2

y = 4,8565 x + 0,0181

½ g = 4,8565 , g = 9,733 m/s2

7. Conclusiones.

To conclude, in this experiment we have proved that by using different size steel
balls fall time remains constant for both of the objects considering that they both
have the same gravitational force and air resistance, however in this special case air
resistance is not taken into account.
Although we have followed the steps indicated by the experiment we did not have
different objects to work with. This could be improved by adding a variety of balls to
calculate the fall time of more than two objects, however due to a problem with the
PASCO Discover Free Fall System we had to change the apparatus. As a
consequence of this we had limited material due to the equipment used and
therefore lack of variety of balls because the free fall apparatus works with a magnet
which will only hold the steel balls.

8. Bibliografía.

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/1DKin/Lesson-5/Introduction
 SÓLIDO RÍGIDO
Fecha de realización:

Zoe Marrero Ramallo

Meritxell Meza Verdecia

Tanda C: Grupo 4

Profesor Encargado Jorge Méndez Ramos

3. Resumen.

The objective of this practice is the study and analysis of the time it takes a series of
objects such as a sphere, disk and ring of different size, to reach the bottom of an
inclined ramp.
With the intention of demonstrating the difference in rotational inertia of objects with
different shapes and masses.

4. Fundamento Teórico.

Rotational inertia is a property of any object that can rotate. It is a scalar value that
tells us how difficult it is to change the rotational speed of the object around a given
axis of rotation.

Rotational inertia is denoted by the symbol I. For a single body such as that of a
sphere rotating by a radius r from the axis of rotation, rotational inertia is:

For a disk:

For a ring:

In addition, instead of directly calculating moments of inertia, we can calculate them

indirectly using Steiner's theorem. The formula we have to apply is:
IC : is the moment of inertia of the system with respect to an axis passing through the
center of mass.
I: is the moment of inertia with respect to an axis parallel to the previous one.
M: is the total mass of the system.
d: is the distance between the two parallel axes.

5. Método Experimental.

MATERIALS:
Large Solid Sphere: Diameter = 10cm; Mass = 810g
Small Solid Sphere: Diameter = 5cm; Mass = 110g
Large Disk: Diameter = 10cm; Mass = 370g
Small Disk: Diameter = 5cm; Mass = 70g
Large Ring: Diameter = 10cm; Mass = 230g
Small Ring: Diameter = 5cm; Mass = 90g
Inclined ramp

In this experiment we have to set up an inclined ramp. Then choose two objects with
the same radius, in this case it was the ring and the disk and see which one will
arrive first. Afterwards repeat the same procedure with the small and large disk.

6. Resultados y Discusión.

1. The ring and the disk of the same radius.

The disk will arrive first at the end of the ramp followed by the ring. This is
because the ring has a greater moment of inertia compared to the disk.

Moment of inertia of disk:

I = 1/2MR2 = 2.18* 10-5 kg·m^2
Moment of inertia of the ring:
I = MR2 = 5, 62 * 10-5 kg·m^2
 2. The small disk and the large disk

Both disks will arrive at the same time. Since the moment of inertia of both is
equal, regardless of their radius.

7. Conclusiones.

To conclude, in this experiment we have demonstrated the difference in rotational

inertia of objects with different shapes and masses showing that two similar objects
with different radius will have the same moment of inertia.
On the other hand, this practice can be improved by setting up an appropriate pad or
a surface at the end of the inclined ramp to prevent objects falling on the floor or
hurting someone, as well as disrupting the experiment making it difficult to analyze
which object may fall first causing a repetition of the experiment. Moreover a release
mechanism to hold the objects in place on the ramp can also improve the
performance of the experiment as both objects fall at the same time.

8. Bibliografía.
https://es.khanacademy.org/science/physics/torque-angular-momentum/torque-tutorial/a/rota
tional-inertia#:~:text=La%20inercia%20rotacional%20es%20una,un%20eje%20de%20rotaci
%C3%B3n%20determinado.&text=Tambi%C3%A9n%20depende%20de%20la%20distribuci
%C3%B3n,respecto%20al%20eje%20de%20rotaci%C3%B3n.