Experiment 2: Acceleration

Martha Holt

PHYS 130 – 35

09/19/2019

Introduction

The purpose of this lab is to learn about uniformly accelerated motion by investigating
acceleration down an inclined plane. In this experiment, the initial velocity and final velocity will
be observed through the numbers given by the photogates. The acceleration will be derived
through the formula v2f = v2i + 2ax. Due to the object being heavier with the 200g weights on the
side of the glider, this will give a larger velocity. The greater velocity will allow the acceleration
to be larger, concluding that the glider will travel at a greater speed with the weights added to
the glider, than without the weights. The lab concluded that the glider that was weighted had a
greater acceleration than the glider that had no weights on it, but not by a significant amount.

Method

With this lab the (almost) frictionless airtrack that is on an incline. The weight of the cart will
pull the cart down and the photogates measure the velocities of the glider at two locations
used to calculate the acceleration. To begin the lab, the airtrack must be leveled by
tightening/loosening the feet of the double leg or place a paper under the single leg. The
airtrack is leveled when the glider stays in place. The distance between the double and single
leg should be measured and recorded. Measure the thickness of the wooden block and place it
under the single leg to incline the track at an angle. Use the formula, sin θ = h/d to calculate the
angle. Place two photogates about a half a meter to a meter apart then measure and record
this distance. Connect the first gate to channel 1 and the second gate to channel 2 on the Pasco
interface. A computer should be connected the PASCO interface and set up the software. This
will measure the initial and final velocity. Place the glider at the inclined end of the track and
turn on the air to maximum power and let the glider slide down the track. The flag on the cart
will pass through the gates and the red LED indicators will light up when it passes through. Ten
sets should be conducted with no weights and 10 sets should be recorded with 50g x 4. The
initial and final velocities should be recorded.

Data

Parameters Column1
Thickness of block h 1.95cm
Distance b/t support 98cm
 legs d
Angle of inclination 0.0199
Distance b/t photogates
x 50cm

Table 1. Parameters gathered at the beginning of experiment to make further calculations.

vi (m/s) vf (m/s) ax (m/s2)

0.46 0.64 0.099
0.46 0.64 0.099
0.46 0.64 0.099
0.46 0.65 0.105
0.46 0.65 0.105
0.45 0.64 0.104
0.45 0.64 0.104
0.45 0.65 0.11
0.45 0.64 0.104
0.45 0.64 0.104

Table 2. Initial and final velocity with a derived acceleration of the glider with no weight added.

vi (m/s) vf (m/s) ax (m/s2)

0.45 0.65 0.11
0.45 0.65 0.11
0.45 0.65 0.11
0.46 0.65 0.105
0.45 0.64 0.104
0.45 0.65 0.11
0.45 0.65 0.11
0.45 0.65 0.11
0.45 0.65 0.11
0.45 0.64 0.104

Table 3. Initial and final velocity with a derived acceleration of the glider with 200g of weight
added.
 Acceleration
0.11
0.11
0.11
Acceleration (m/s2)

0.11
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.09
0.09
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Trial Run

Table 4. Represents the accelerations of series one being without weights and series two being
with weights.

The average initial velocity from table 1 is 0.455 m/s and the final velocity is 0.643 m/s. The
average acceleration is 0.1033 m/s2 and the standard deviation of these numbers is 0.00329.
The average initial velocity from table 2 is 0.451 m/s and the final velocity is 0.648 m/s. The
average acceleration is 0.1083 m/s2 and the standard deviation of these numbers is 0.00249.

Average velocities and acceleration was derived by the sum of all of the numbers that apply to
that column and dividing that by the number of quantities there were.

Acceleration equation used: vf2 = vi2 + 2ax which can be changed to equal the acceleration by
which is… ax = (vf2 – vi2)/2

The standard deviation of the accelerations is derived with the following equation:

Results

To understand the difference between the trials with no weight and the weighted trials the
percent difference had to be calculated through the (|v1 – v2| / ((v1 + v2)/2)) x 100. The
percent difference is 4.7259%. The percent difference is used to compare to independent
measurements of the same quantity to find out how much the measurements differ. There
should be a percent difference in this lab due to the change of weight on the glider as it travels
down the track and the accelerations are derived. The gexp is 5.19 m/s2 for the unweighted trials
and 5.44 m/s2 for the weighted trials. This is calculated using a = g sin θ. Gravity is 9.8 m/s2. The
percent error of the unweighted trials is 47.04% and the unweighted trials is 44.99%.

Discussion

There two accelerations are more similar than expected in these trials. The average
acceleration between the unweighted and weighted trials is only 0.005 m/s2. This shows that
there was not a lot of difference between the acceleration of the unweighted and the weighted
trials. The standard deviation of the unweighted trials is 0.00329 and the weighted trials is
0.00249. This indicates that the weighted trials were more accurate because the numbers were
closer to the mean of the data than the unweighted trials. This indicates that this data is more
precise and reliable information. Even though the weighted trials had a smaller standard
deviation, the unweighted trials were not far behind with only a difference of 0.0008. This
shows that both the unweighted and weighted trials were precise. There was a percent
difference of 47.04% for the unweighted trials and 44.49% when compared to the accepted
value of 9.8 m/s2. This is a very large percent error which could be due to many sources of
error. The glider started at different points on the track when performing the trials which could
have led to it getting more momentum before passing through the photogates. This would
skew the data collected, especially when comparing the weighted and unweighted trials. At
some points while letting the glider slide down the track we would slide it back on the track or
pick it up which could have made the glider unbalanced. This could have created an error with
how the glider went down the track and skewed the velocities collected from the photogates
on PASCO interface. The weights for the weighted trials were on the glider a little difference
sometimes which could have affected the weight distributed on both sides of the glider. This
could have led to one side of the glider being lower on one side and slowing down its speed
when passing through the photogates.

Conclusion

The hypothesis was supported that the object being heavier with the 200g weights on the side
of the glider will have a greater velocity which in turn correlated to the larger acceleration. Even
though this hypothesis was supported, it was not supported by a very large number. Even
though the weights were added to the glider, they did not have a significant effect on the
acceleration. If friction were a factor in this experiment, this could have affected the weighted
and unweighted numbers. This could be due to the small angle that the track was put on. If the
track was placed on a larger block, creating a larger angle, then the weight might have helped
the glider propel forward since this is an “almost” frictionless track. The percent error for both
the unweighted and weighted trials indicate that there could have been a great deal of error
made when performing this lab. To further this experiment, there could be another trial ran
with this PASCO interface or create a track with unweighted and weighted cars traveling down
a track. This would give insight as to how friction plays a role in acceleration. With further
investigation it would become clearer if the weights had an effect on the overall results.