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PHYSICS Lab Report of Experiment 2

1) The document describes a physics lab experiment to determine gravitational acceleration using free fall motion. 2) A ticker tape timer that makes dots every 0.02 seconds was used to record the falling object's position over time. 3) By plotting the change in position versus time squared, the student found the slope of the best fit line, which equals half the gravitational acceleration. The calculated value was 9.0 m/s2, close to the accepted value of 9.8 m/s2.

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shiloh chipendo
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153 views5 pages

PHYSICS Lab Report of Experiment 2

1) The document describes a physics lab experiment to determine gravitational acceleration using free fall motion. 2) A ticker tape timer that makes dots every 0.02 seconds was used to record the falling object's position over time. 3) By plotting the change in position versus time squared, the student found the slope of the best fit line, which equals half the gravitational acceleration. The calculated value was 9.0 m/s2, close to the accepted value of 9.8 m/s2.

Uploaded by

shiloh chipendo
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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ENG121-PHYSICS 1 LABORATORY

LABORATORY REPORT OF EXPERIMENT 2


Student No: 21144073
Name: Shiloh Shumirai A Chipendo
Department: Molecular Biology and Genetics

FREE FALL (ONE DIMENSIONAL MOTION) AIM OF EXPERIMENT


Determination of the magnitude of gravitational acceleration by using the properties of free
fall (one dimensional motion on y-axis).

APPARATUS: Ticker-Tape Timer, Power Supply mass of 10gr, white paper tape (5p)

Give detailed information about ticker tape timer.

A ticker tape timer is a device that is used to record an object’s movement by taking a spot on a paper
at regular time intervals. It consists of an electrical vibrator which vibrates 50 times per second. This
enables it to make 50 dots per second on a ticker tape being pulled through it.
THEORY (10p)

Give detailed information about Motion on y-axis (1 Dimensional Motion).

For motion in the y-axis, objects move vertically which can also be described as acceleration due to
gravity. This is because particles moving along the y-axis act against gravity as they move up and
down. The table below summarises the y-components of motion along the y-axis.
Quantity Motion in y-axis
Time t
Displacement (y-y0)
Initial velocity V0y
Final velocity VY
Acceleration g
Some of the equations of free fall on motion in the y-axis (taking note that acceleration changes to
gravity on the y-axis) are as follows:

V = v0 +gt

1 y- y0 = v0t + 2gt2 v2

= v20 + 2g(y-y0)

0 y-y0 =
(v0+v) t
2
1 y-
y0 = vt - gt2 2

MEASUREMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS


Use the properties of recording timer (frequency = 50 Hz) and fill below table.

𝒀 - 𝒀𝑶 = 𝑽𝑶𝒚𝒕 + 𝟏 /𝟐 𝒈𝒕2 and if the motion


is free fall; 𝑽𝑶𝒚=0,
𝒀 - 𝒀𝑶 = 𝟏/𝟐 𝒈𝒕2

Table 1: Change in position of mass according to time. (10p) Fill below table
with your measurements.
Measurement Y-Y0(cm) Y-Y0(m) t(s) t2(s2)
Point
1(6 points) 3.5 0.035 0.12 0.0144

2(8 points) 6.4 0.064 0.16 0.0256

3(10 points) 10 0.1 0.2 0.04

4(12 points) 14.5 0.145 0.24 0.0576

5(14 points) 19.8 0.198 0.28 0.0784


OBSERVATIONS (5p)
Initially the ticker makes uniform spacing between the dots. As the time increases the distance
between the progressive dots also begins to increase. As the time increased the distance between the
progressive dots also increased. This therefore made the dots to appear to be more separated than
they appeared to be at the start of the experiment.

QUESTIONS AND CALCULATIONS


1. State the equations and properties of 1- dimensional motion (on y-axis). (5p)
When the acceleration of an object is the same this means that the acceleration. This is constant
which is the force of gravity on the y-axis (g) and g= -9.8m/s. The equations are as follows:
Where g is the acceleration due to gravity, v 0 is the initial velocity

and t is the time in seconds we

can say that; V = u + (-g) t

Displacement, y-y0 = ut + (-g)t2

*These two equations can be used to solve any constant acceleration problem. However, some other
equations are derived from these two equations for specific problems. The equations are as follows:
V)

y-y0 = (u + v)t 2 y-
y0 = vt + (-g)t2

2. Consider the properties of free fall and obtain the equations of free fall. (5p)
The properties of free fall include:

*Objects in free fall don’t encounter any air resistance.

*The velocity does not remain the same or constant. It is always changing as the object falls.

*Free falling objects do not depend on the mass of the body.

The equations of free fall are as follows:

As specified in question 1 where g is the acceleration due to gravity, v 0 is the initial velocity and t is
the time in seconds:

V = v0 + (-g)t
Displacement, y-y0 = v0t+ (-g)t2
*As I specified in question 1, these two equations can be used solve any constant acceleration
problem. However, some other equations are derived from these two equations for specific
problems. The equations are as follows;

V2 = v02 + 2(-g)(y-y0)
1 y-y0 =
(v0 + v)t 2
y-y0 = vt + (g)t2

3. Sketch the graph of “𝒀 - 𝒀𝑶 (m) vs t2 (s2)” graph by using the best fit line principle
(you can use excel) and show that
Slope=gravitational accelaration (20p)

4. Calculate the experimental value of gravitational acceleration by using the graph of

“𝒀 - 𝒀𝑶(m) vs t2 (s)” and property that Slope = 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏/𝟐


(10p)

Experimental value = Gravitational acceleration x 2

= 8.62

= 9.0

5. Use the real value of gravitational acceleration which g = 9.8 m/s2 and the experimental
value calculated in question 4 , Calculate the absolute error and percentage error of the
experiment. (10p)

Absolute error = │9.0 – 9.8│ Percentage error = x100%


= 0.8 = 8.16%

CONCLUSION (15p)
In conclusion, based on the data from the velocity- time graph, the object is experiencing non
uniform motion. Since the ticker timer has a frequency of 50 Hz which produces 50 dots per second
on a piece of paper, this then means that as the time progressed the distance between the dots
increased.

However, an error which was noted during the experiment was that the carbon paper did not
produce visible dots which resulted in loss of count.

Therefore, the usage of better black carbon paper should be taken into consideration as the markings
made on the recording tape or piece of paper cannot be seen easily by observers. Also repeated
readings can be made to improve the accuracy of the values.

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