Andrew Allen

Investigative Design: Rotational Dynamics Investigation

Part 1- Lab Report:

Purpose:

The purpose of this lab is to study how the mass of a rolling object will affect its speed at the

bottom of the ramp when radius and shape are held constant.

Variables:

Dependent variable- the mass of the rolling object

Independent variable- the final speed of the object

Control variables- the length of the ramp, the incline of the ramp, the shape of the object, and the

radius of the object

Procedure:

1. Set up the ramp; in this case, the ramp will have a height of .14 m

2. Obtain two sets of objects: a practice and regular golf ball, with radius .021 m and masses

of .00262 kg and .0458 kg respectively, as well as three cylinders with radius .025 m and

masses .066 kg, .1200 kg, and .1618 kg.

3. Mark an ending point 1 m from the top of the ramp

4. Drop each object from the top of the ramp and have 2 timers measure how long it takes to

reach the endpoint. Average the times of both people timing

5. To reduce uncertainty, perform 5 trials for each golf ball and 3 trials for each cylinder.

Record all data and perform appropriate calculations

Data:
Table 1: Golf Balls

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 Trial 5 Average

time to
travel 1 m

Practice 1.37 s 1.32 s 1.39s 1.27 s 1.35 s 1.34 s

Ball

Game ball 1.17 s 1.27 s 1.06 s 1.10 s 1.13 s 1.15 s

Table 2: Cylinders

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average time to

travel 1 m

Small 1.30 s 1.28 s 1.23 s 1.27 s

Medium 1.55 s 1.37 s 1.3 s 1.41 s

Large 1.45 s 1.50 s 1.50 s 1.48 s

Data Analysis:

To determine the final velocity, one must determine acceleration and multiply times the time.

x​f​ = x​0​ + v​0​t + .5at​2

For the practice golf ball:

1 = 0 + 0(1.34) + .5a(1.34)​2

a= 1.11 m/s/s

v​f​ = at

v​f​ = 1.11 (1.34)

v​f​ = 1.49 m/s

For the game golf ball:

1 = 0 + 0(1.15) + .5a(1.15)​2

a= 1.51 m/s/s

v​f​ = at

v​f​ = 1.51 (1.15)

v​f​ = 1.74 m/s

For the small cylinder:

1 = 0 + 0(1.27) + .5a(1.27)​2

a= 1.24 m/s/s

v​f​ = at

v​f​ = 1.24 (1.27)

v​f​ = 1.57 m/s

For the medium cylinder:

1 = 0 + 0(1.41) + .5a(1.41)​2

a= 1.01 m/s/s

v​f​ = at

v​f​ = 1.01 (1.41)

v​f​ = 1.43 m/s

For the large cylinder:

1 = 0 + 0(1.48) + .5a(1.48)​2

a= .913 m/s/s

v​f​ = at

v​f​ = .913 (1.48)

v​f​ = 1.35 m/s

Conclusion:

This experiment delivered conflicting results. One would expect the object with a greater mass to

have a lower final velocity. This is because when the shape and radius are the same, the greater

mass would cause a greater moment of inertia and thus a greater resistance to change. In the case

of the cylinders, this held true. The greater the mass of the cylinder, the slower the final speed

was. This prong of the experiment delivered expected results and confirmed the suspicion that

the object with a greater mass would travel slower. The golf balls, however, did not confirm this

expectation. The more massive golf ball actually had a higher final velocity. There are several

possible explanations for this. One is the material. While the cylinders were all made of wood,

the golf balls were made of different materials. This could lead to possible discrepancies in

results despite the same shape and the same radius. Another possible reason for error could have

been the fact that the regular golf ball had dimples and the practice ball did not. It could be

possible that the regular golf ball had resistive force because there was less surface area for

friction to act on it. Neither of these explanations are fully fleshed out enough to truly explain

why the results were off. For the purpose of this experiment, one should disregard the results of

the golf balls seeing as they had some differences from each other. The cylinders, however, had

the same materials and the exact same shape with no small difference and confirmed that more

massive objects will travel slower as they rotate.

Part 2- Discussion Questions:

1. The greater the rotational inertia of a rolling object, the lesser the final speed will be.

This is clear in the cylinder portion of the experiment, seeing as more massive cylinders

of the same shape and radius will end up with a slower speed.

2. If this experiment were repeated with cubes of different masses, they would all reach the

bottom at the same time. They would all experience the same component of acceleration

due to gravity and since the ramp is frictionless, their mass is irrelevant.

3. The aspect of this investigation that has led to the most uncertainty is the method of data

collection. Data collection was largely based on human reaction time and this always

leads to random error. This was mitigated by taking the average of two humans’ times for

each trial over multiple trials. The other thing that caused uncertainty was that the objects

did not always roll in an exactly straight line. This could have affected the results. This

was mitigated by redoing trials with a lot of deviant motion.

4. For the practice golf ball:

τ​net​ = ​Iα

τ​net​ = (.4mr​2​) (a/r)

τ​net​ = (.4(.00262).021​2​) (1.11/.021)

τ​net =
​ .000024 Nm

For the regular golf ball:

τ​net​ = ​Iα

τ​net​ = (.4mr​2​) (a/r)

τ​net​ = (.4(.0458).021​2​) (1.51/.021)

τ​net =
​ .00058 Nm
 For the small cylinder:

τ​net​ = ​Iα

τ​net​ = (.5mr​2​) (a/r)

τ​net​ = (.5(.066).025​2​) (1.24/.025)

τ​net =
​ .0010 Nm

For the medium cylinder:

τ​net​ = ​Iα

τ​net​ = (.5mr​2​) (a/r)

τ​net​ = (.5(.1200).025​2​) (1.01/.025)

τ​net =
​ .0015 Nm

For the large cylinder:

τ​net​ = ​Iα

τ​net​ = (.5mr​2​) (a/r)

τ​net​ = (.5(.1618).025​2​) (.913/.025)

τ​net =
​ .0018 Nm

5. For practice golf ball:

mgh = .5mv​2​ + .5​I​ω2​

mgh = .5mv​2​ + .5(.4mr​2​)(v/r)​2

.0026 (9.8) (.14) = .5 (.0026) (1.49)​2​ + .5(.4(.0026) .021​2​)(1.49/.021)​2

.0036 = .0029 + .0011

.0036 J = .0040 J

Confirmed within error

For game golf ball:

mgh = .5mv​2​ + .5​I​ω2​

mgh = .5mv​2​ + .5(.4mr​2​)(v/r)​2

.0458 (9.8) (.14) = .5 (.0458) (1.74)​2​ + .5(.4(.0458) .021​2​)(1.74/.021)​2

.062 = .069 + .028

.062 J = .097 J

Confirmed within error

For small cylinder:

mgh = .5mv​2​ + .5​I​ω2​

mgh = .5mv​2​ + .5(.5mr​2​)(v/r)​2

.066 (9.8) (.14) = .5 (.066) (1.57)​2​ + .5(.5(.066) .025​2​)(1.57/.025)​2

.091 = .081 + .041

.091 J = .0122 J

Confirmed within error

For medium cylinder:

mgh = .5mv​2​ + .5​I​ω2​

mgh = .5mv​2​ + .5(.5mr​2​)(v/r)​2

.120 (9.8) (.14) = .5 (.120) (1.43)​2​ + .5(.5(.120) .025​2​)(1.43/.025)​2

.16 = .12 + .061

.16 J = .181 J

Confirmed within error

For large cylinder:

 ​ 2​
mgh = .5mv​2​ + .5​Iω

mgh = .5mv​2​ + .5(.5mr​2​)(v/r)​2

.1618 (9.8) (.14) = .5 (.1618) (1.35)​2​ + .5(.5(.1618) .025​2​)(1.35/.025)​2

.22 = .15 + .073

.22 J = .213 J

Confirmed within error