AP Physics Class 2 Energy Lab

Hypothesis:
This lab demanded us to find the coefficient of friction ( ), the work done by gravity on an object, the forces acting on the object as well as the acceleration, had the ramp been 10 higher. In order to do that, we believed that by calculating the slip angle (the angle at which the object starts to slide at ( ) constant velocity), we could find the coefficient of friction using the formula [ . We would also need the length of the ramp as well as the time it would take for the object to fall (to find power). The mass of the object was provided to us. Using this data, we would be able to determine the missing information.

Procedure:
1) Measure length of ramp 2) Raise ramp with the object until it starts to fall at a constant velocity and measure the height of the ramp. Use trigonometry to determine slip angle. 3) Release the object and record the time it takes to reach the end of the ramp at constant velocity. Multiple tryouts are needed for enhanced precision.

Data:
Length of ramp: 1.5 m Angle of ramp (slip angle): 21.5 Mass of object: 50g Try # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Average time: 3.12 seconds Time recorded (seconds) 3.08 3.12 3.14 3.2 3.03 3.71 2.87 3.1 3.14 3.1

Calculations: Coefficient of Friction: ( ) ( )=

Force acting on the object: (a = 0) ( ) ( )( ( Work: ( Power: )( ) )( )

Acceleration with ramp @ +10: ( ( )( )( )( )( )( ) ( ))

Error analysis:
Inaccuracy when timing the drop of the ball (human error) Ramp had variable friction. It was rougher toward the ends, thus making the object slow down (not constant speed) The object had two sides from which it could fall head first, one of them had a much higher slip angle, and thus we had to choose one of the sides although they had different slip angles.

Conclusion:
In doing this lab, we discovered that we could calculate various things from the acceleration, coefficient of friction between a ramp and an object, the power generated and the force acting using only 4 piece of data: slip angle, mass, time to end of the ramp and length of said ramp. We found the coefficient of ( ) friction using the relationship [ ], and from there, we were able to determine the force using components of gravity vectors and the work done [ . In order to make enhance the precision, we did several attempts at timing and calculating the slip angle.