Physics Practical Yr 5 (ACS International)

Name: Avijeet Date : 5/8/21

Time: 1 hr 20 mins

EXPERIMENT 2103:
To make measurements of a ball rolling down a slope in order to calculate its acceleration

In this IB Lab you will be assessed on the following IB criterion:-

Exploration, Analysis and Evaluation

Aim:
In this experiment you will make measurements of a ball rolling down a slope in order to
calculate its acceleration.

Apparatus:
Metre rule joined together to form a wooden plank, plastic tray to prop up one end of the
metre rule to form a slope, half metre rule, stopwatch, tennis ball

Method:
1 Set up the slope at an angle so that it takes at least two seconds for the object to roll down
the complete length.
2 On the slope, mark six points at different distances from the top end of the slope. The
lowest point should be at most 0.75 m from the top end of the slope and the intervals
between the points should be between 0.1 m and 0.2 m
3 Measure the time t taken for the object to roll from rest from the top of the slope through a
distance s to one of the marks on the slope. The time t should be measured at least three
times. You will need to take steps to ensure that your results are as accurate as possible.
4 Repeat for different distances s, recording the values of s and t.
5 Use the half metre to measure the height of the slope. Determine the angle the slope makes
with the horizontal using trigonometry.

Raw Data Table

Distance Time taken(t)/s

travelled(s)/m (±0.01s)
(±0.0005m)
t1 t2 t3
1.00 2.68 2.16 2.69
0.95 2.38 2.06 2.31
0.90 2.19 2.19 2.07
0.85 1.84 1.80 2.03
0.80 1.85 1.84 1.86
0.75 1.75 1.60 1.73
Data Processing

Statement on choice of uncertainties:

The smallest reading on the meter rule used for this experiment is 1mm, which is 0.001m.
Since the ruler is an analogue instrument, we must divide the least count by 2 to get its
uncertainty, which is:

0.001
=0.0005 m
2

As the stopwatch used to measure the time t is a digital device, its uncertainty is its least
count, which is 0.01s.

In order to minimize human error which results from human reaction time(est. 0.15s) when
stopping the stopwatch at the instant the ball falls down the slope, I repeated the experiment 3
times. Calculating the average of the 3 reading will allow us to average out the human error
and minimize it. Below in Fig2 is a table of length s and the average time of the 3 readings, T.

To calculate the uncertainty for T, which is ∆T, we will simply take the half of highest
possible value minus the lowest possible value for each row. This can be shown using the
following equation:

Tmax−Tmin
∆T=
2
Sample calculation:
When the s=100m,

2.68+2.16+2.69
T= =2.51 s
3

Tmax=2.70s
Tmin=2.15s
Hence, ∆T is calculated using:
Tmax−Tmin
∆T=
2
2.70−2.15
¿
2

= ±0.275s
The uncertainty of s will remain the same as there are no changes in its values.

Distance travelled(s)/m T(s) ∆T(±s)

(±0.0005m)
1.00 2.51 0.275
0.95 2.25 0.170
0.90 2.15 0.070
0.85 1.89 0.125
 0.80 1.75 0.020
0.75 1.69 0.085

Theory
If an object rolls from rest down a slope, then it is possible to calculate the acceleration of the
object from the distance it has travelled and the time it takes.
The equations for uniformly accelerated motion state that
s = ut + ½ at2
where a is the acceleration, u is the initial velocity, s is the distance travelled and t is the time
taken.
If the ball starts from rest then u = 0 and the equation can be re-written as
s = ½ at2
So, by measuring the time taken for an object to move a known distance down a slope, it is
possible to measure its acceleration.
By comparing this to the equation for a straight line we can see that if a graph of s (x-axis), is
plotted against t2 (y axis) then this should be a straight line of gradient ½ a that passes through
the origin

Since T2 is obtained by raising the power of T by 2, the uncertainty of T2, ∆T2 can be derived
from this equation:
∆T2 ∆T
T 2
=2 ( )
T

Hence,
∆T
∆ T 2=2 × ×T 2=2 ×∆ T × T
T
Sample Calculation:
When T=2.51s,
2
∆ T =2 × ∆T ×T =2 ×0.275 ×2.51=1.38

Below is a table of s with values of T2 and ∆T2 which will be used to plot our graph in order to
calculate the acceleration of the ball.

Distance travelled(s)/m T2 (s) ∆T2 (±s)

(±0.0005m)
1.00 6.30 1.38
0.95 5.06 0.765
0.90 4.62 0.301
0.85 3.57 0.473
0.80 3.06 0.070
0.75 2.86 0.287

Graph
Below is a graph of T2(y-axis) against s(x-axis)
From the graph obtained, we can see that the gradient, m=11.92. Comparing the equation of a
straight line y=mx+c with the equation s = ½ at2 tells us that m=½a. Hence the value of the
acceleration of the ball is:

a=11.92 ×2=23.84 m/s 2

Evaluation
The theoretical value of the acceleration of the tennis ball should be 9.81m/s2(acceleration due
to gravity). My calculated value of 23.84m/s2 was extremely inaccurate and way higher than
the theoretical value. This experiment had a percentage uncertainty of a whopping 164%,
making it highly inaccurate and unfeasible. One major random error in the experiment
includes human reaction time when stopping the stopwatch. Although I repeated the
experiment 3 times to reduce this error, I believe that there was still a high amount of random
error. One major improvement that could have been made in the setup of the experiment was
to use a sensor and place at the bottom of the slope. The sensor would be activated by a
person when the ball is let go and starts rolling down and would stop and record the time
when the ball hits it. We can also conduct the experiment even more times and calculate the
average time to reduce this error. There were also a high number of systematic errors in the
experiment. For instance, it is impossible for the person conducting such an experiment to not
let release the ball with a little bit of acceleration and push. This might have resulted in the
values of T calculated to be much smaller than actual, which lead to my calculated value of
acceleration being so high. There was also parallax error when measuring s as the slant ruler
was impossible to be placed at eye level. Overall, while this experiment allows us to see the
clear relationship between s and T, it is inaccurate for being used to calculate acceleration due
to its high number of errors, both random and systematic.