Gravity Lab

What is the effect on an object's weight, size, and shape on how fast it falls to the ground due to
gravity?

Introduction:
It is a common observation and point of knowledge that gravity pulls objects down.
Newton quantified this observation in the 17th century with his theory of gravity. This lab will
determine which characteristics of an object are important with regard to how they are affected
by gravity. This is an interesting problem because gravity is constantly at work in our world, and
it will be useful to understand how it acts on different types of common objects.
The materials that I will be using in this lab include a tape measure, stopwatch, and
numerous random objects, including a deck of cards, a tennis ball, a quarter, paper wad, a stuffed
animal, a pencil, candy bars, a notebook, a sock, and a shoe.
Insert hypothesis here?? – What do the students think? Let them decide the effect of
gravity.

Procedure:

1.) Measure a height above the ground that all of the objects will be dropped from.
2.) Choose three time takers in charge of the stop watches.
3.) Drop the objects one by one from the specified height and time how long it takes for them to
hit the ground
4.) Make sure you have several measurements for each object so that you can take averages later.
5.) Calculate the acceleration due to gravity from data

Data:

Height from which objects were dropped:

Object: Mass(g) Time to drop 1: Time to drop 2: Time 3: Average time:

Deck of cards 87
Racquet ball 41
Quarter 6
Paper sheet 4
Paper wad 4
Stuffed animal 159
Pencil 9
Dictionary 1664
Tin with candy 273
Sock 19
Shoe 385

Calculate the acceleration due to gravity:

X = Xo - Vot - 1/2at2
X = 0, Vo = 0, so Xo = 1/2at2
a = 2Xo/t2
Compare to accepted value of 9.8m/s2

Percent Difference: |accepted - measured|/accepted

Error Analysis:
What errors could have affected the outcome of this lab?
- reaction time
- orientation of object when dropped
- air resistance

Conclusion:
Did all objects take the same amount of time to drop? Which ones dropped faster, which
slower? What characteristics affected how long it took objects to hit the ground? Why? What
other stuff is going on? Does gravity act differently on different objects? Why or Why not?
What else could be acting on the objects? Is there anything else affecting the objects' speed?
Which objects were most affected? What are situations in real life where this occurs? Is it good,
or bad? What types of things are done to help minimize it?

Reason Mass doesn't matter: F=ma, but F due to Gravity is GMm/r^2

G = 6.67 x10-11 m3/kg-s2 M = mass of earth = 6 x 1024 kg