Free Fall Lab
Isaiah Hernandez, Tony Wu, Leslie Zho
Sept. 12, 2016
Purpose: To examine the validity of the statement:
"In the absence of all other external forces except gravity, a falling body will accelerate at 9.8 m/s^2."
"In the absence of all other external forces except gravity, a falling body will accelerate at 9.8 m/s^2."
Theory: In "perfect" conditions, any object found in free fall will be accelerating downwards towards the earth's core at a rate of 9.8 m/s^2 due to gravity on Earth. The class was responsible for using the given apparatus and an excel worksheet to represent a correlation between the experiment and the acceleration due to gravity.
A summary of
apparatus/experimental procedure:
Our team was given a strip of paper tape that was hooked up to a sparker thing and released as the device began to make marks on the tape. We had to measure the distance between each mark and record them into an excel worksheet.
Our team was given a strip of paper tape that was hooked up to a sparker thing and released as the device began to make marks on the tape. We had to measure the distance between each mark and record them into an excel worksheet.
Table of measured data:
Table of calculated results:
Explanation of your
graph/analysis:
In the table of measured data, we inserted a graph to represent the relationship between the interval time that passed and speed at which the paper was being zapped. We used a linear fit to obtain the function that best aligned with the plotted data. We found that this graph had a slope of 0.988 m/cm^2 which can be converted to 9.8 m/s^2. This converted value corresponds to the value of acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s^2).
In the table of measured data, we inserted a graph to represent the relationship between the interval time that passed and speed at which the paper was being zapped. We used a linear fit to obtain the function that best aligned with the plotted data. We found that this graph had a slope of 0.988 m/cm^2 which can be converted to 9.8 m/s^2. This converted value corresponds to the value of acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s^2).
Conclusions:
The statement presented: "In the absence of all other external forces except gravity, a falling body will accelerate at 9.8 m/s^2," was proven to be true during this experment. The apparatus and analyzed data showed that the paper strip fell at a rate of approximately 9.88 m/s^2 which closely matches the value of acceleration due to gravity (9.81 m/s^2).
The statement presented: "In the absence of all other external forces except gravity, a falling body will accelerate at 9.8 m/s^2," was proven to be true during this experment. The apparatus and analyzed data showed that the paper strip fell at a rate of approximately 9.88 m/s^2 which closely matches the value of acceleration due to gravity (9.81 m/s^2).
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