Name: Kenneth Bagayas, Paris Grp No.

: Group 2 Grp Name:

Carbonell, Gabrielle Sabijon

PHYS 10.02 Section D-Q4 Date performed: 4/27/’21 Date Submitted: 4/29/’21

Reaction Time

Introduction:

The reaction time of a person is the time interval between receiving a stimuli and reacting
to it. In this activity you will determine the reaction time of your friend. You will also relate
the concept of reaction time to real life situations. You are required to submit a report of
the activity. The written report should contain the following:

a. The procedure followed which includes a picture of you and the other
person doing the activity.
b. The data of the height of fall presented in tabular format.
c. Calculation of the reaction time.
d. Answers to all the questions found in the activity sheet

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this activity the students are expected to

a. define reaction time;
b. calculate a person’s reaction time;
c. explain the significance of reaction time in daily life, like in sports and driving; and
d. present a report of the data collected, interpretation of the results and answers
to questions.

Materials:

Paper Peso bill (not crumpled) Calculator

Ruler Ball pen and paper

Procedure:

A. Preliminary activity

Hold the Peso bill at one end in a vertical position. Let the middle part of the peso bill hang
between your friend’s fingers as shown in the figure below (Figure 1). Challenge your
friend to catch the bill when you release it by snapping shut the fingers. Was he/she able
to catch the peso bill? Was his/her reaction time longer or shorter than the time it took the
peso bill to pass through the fingers?
 Figure 1 Figure 2

Think about the time it takes for the eye to send the data (the act of releasing the peso bill)
to the brain and for the brain to inform the fingers to snap shut. Was the value more than a
second, a second or perhaps less than a second?

Reflect on life’s experiences, like sports. Give an example of the importance of reaction
time in sports.

- An example of reaction time in sports would be playing defense in a game of

basketball, football, or volleyball. Defensive players need to have good or fast
reaction times because their movement is dependent on the offensive player’s
movement. That is why defensive players with fast reaction times are able to
intercept, steal, or block the ball from the offensive players.

B. Calculating the reaction time

In the second part of the activity is the calculation of a person’s reaction time.

Replace the peso bill with the ruler. Hold the ruler vertically upside down so that the 0 cm
mark is at the bottom. The top part of the fingers of your friend should be aligned with the 0
cm mark as shown in the figure below (Figure 2).

Challenge your friend to catch the ruler when you release it. Note down how far the ruler
dropped before it was caught by the fingers. Do these ten times and present the data in a
table. Calculate the mean value of the displacement and calculate the reaction time using
the equation

𝑡 = √2𝑑/𝑔
where 𝑑 is the average distance in cm and 𝑔 = 980 cm/s2.
 Work Sheet

1. Show the raw data and the calculation of the reaction time. What is the
average reaction time of your friend? Was it more than or less than a second?
(10 pts)

Trial Displacement (cm)

1 15.0 ± 0.1

2 18.0 ± 0.1

3 14.5 ± 0.1

4 13.0 ± 0.1

5 14.0 ± 0.1

6 18.0 ± 0.1

7 18.0 ± 0.1

8 19.0 ± 0.1

9 16.5 ± 0.1

10 10.0 ± 0.1

Average 15.6 ± 0.1

𝑡 = √2𝑑/𝑔
𝑡 = √(2 * 15. 6)/980
𝑡 = 0. 178seconds
Average reaction time: 0.178 seconds

Questions:

2 Derive and cite the assumption made in using the equation for calculating the
reaction time. (5 pts)
2 2
𝑑 = 1/2 𝑔𝑡 → 𝑡 = 2𝑑/𝑔 → 𝑡 = √2𝑑/𝑔
2
Given that the equation of distance travelled of a free falling object is 𝑑 = 1/2 𝑔𝑡 .
2
With g as the force of gravity at 980𝑐𝑚/𝑠 , this is the acceleration of an object in a
free fall motion without air resistance or any other force applied. By isolating t which
represents time, we are able to derive a new equation to get the reaction time,
𝑡 = √2𝑑/𝑔 since the values for the distance travelled of the falling object is obtained
in the experiment. And since the distance travelled is directly proportional to the
time elapsed, the time increases proportionally as the distance increases

3. Explain why it is necessary to perform 10 trials and use the mean value for
 calculating the reaction time. (5 pts)

The result of a single trial may not always be correct in terms of both precision and
accuracy. Performing more trials ensures that the results are consistent and unaffected by
random events. The more trials are done, the more reliable the data or the average is.
Moreover, getting the mean value for calculating the reaction time is important in order to get
a value that best represents the reaction time of a person. Because of this, one can have a
general idea that their reaction time is more or less the average of the trials.

4. Will the reaction time be different if a different stimuli is used like a tap on the shoulder
when the ruler is released? (5 pts)

The reaction time will be different for every stimuli, usually depending on what body
part receives it. This is because the brain receives signals that register as recognition on
what the stimuli is and how to react to it. These signals from the stimuli have to travel all the
way from the brain first before the body is able to react. These factors including the time of
recognition of the stimuli by our senses affect our reaction time to a certain stimuli, such as
when the stimuli is either sensed through our sense of touch when feeling a tap on the
shoulder and through our sense of sight when the ruler is released. When one processes
less information, they are able to react faster.

5. What role does reaction time play in applying the brakes to your car in emergency
situations? Estimate the distance a car travel at 100 km/h during your reaction time
in breaking. Show the solution. (5 pts)

As stated by Newton's first law, the law of inertia, an object at rest or motion at a
constant speed will remain at rest or continue to keep moving at the constant speed unless it
is acted upon by a force. Because of this, a driver's reaction time is crucial during emergency
situations because the car is still in motion until the driver reacts to the stimuli and applies the
brakes to stop the car. A longer reaction time can lead to increased risks of accidents on the
road because it delays the time for the driver to apply the brakes and avoid accidents. For
that reason, a driver should always be attentive when driving. A faster reaction time will
increase the distance between the vehicle driven and the stimuli, in this case it may be
another vehicle or other obstructions on the road, and keeping the driver and their
passengers safe.