Acceleration Due To Gravity Physics Lab Report

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Physics 215 September 13, 2011 Experiment Number 3 Acceleration Due to Gravity Introduction The purpose of this experiment is to measure the acceleration due to gravity of a free falling object. By performing Galileo’s experiment of free falling objects to measure the acceleration due to gravity. This experiment is based on the Galilean theory of free fall, and there are two important characteristics regarding free fall: (1) Free fall objects do not have air resistance and (2) All free falling objects on Earth experience a downward acceleration of 9.8 m/s2. This experiment will prove that the weight of an object does not determine how fast it will fall, despite Aristotle’s claim. Theory In this experiment we will be interested in only one direction of motion. We will measure an objects displacement as ∆x= xf-xi the difference in the final position from the initial position. The speed of the object we are studying will be determined by the distance traveled per change in time(t) , using the following equation: Speed avg= Distance traveled∆ time(t) . The equation we use to find the acceleration (a) for an object that starts from rest is: a= 2xt2. Experimental Procedure The procedures for this experiment were followed as outlined in the Physics 215 laboratory manual and background materials. The following items were used in the experiment: * TI-84 Calculator * Tape measure (meters) * 4- 1 kg weight * 4- 2 kg weight * Four Stopwatches * Ball drop apparatus * PASCO 750 computer interface * 2 meter ruler Data The class utilized an open window to drop eight 1kg and 2kg weights from an average height of 6.44m ± 1cm. Each drop was recorded by a stop watch from four students, and recorded on the data sheet. The next experiment to determine free fall utilized the PASCO 750 computer interface and ball drop

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