Acceleration due to gravity report

Aim
To investigate the experimental value of the acceleration due to gravitational force on Earth using
projectile motion.

Research question
What is the experimentally calculated value of the acceleration due to free fall of a projectile motion?

Hypothesis
The experimentally calculated value of acceleration due to free fall will be roughly 9.8 m s−2

Because…

Background research
Projectile motion is a movement of an object in a parabolic shape (or partially parabolic shape) under
the influence of gravity ("Projectile Motion"). When an object is thrown in the air or it is set to travel
horizontally in the air, the force of gravity causes said object to be moving vertically as well ("Projectile
Motion"). The force of gravitational acceleration is the same for all objects on Earth at the same place
("Projectile Motion"). Each object is launched at an initial speed u and at an angle α. It travels up to a
highest point h meters from the ground before falling down again and is at a distance x 0 from the
starting point, as demonstrated in figure 1

Figure 1: Diagram of a typical projectile’s trajectory

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The horizontal motion of a projectile is of constant speed because no other force is acting on the
horizontal component of the object’s trajectory ("Projectile Motion"). Air resistance is negligible in the
projectile motion calculation because it is very small ("Projectile Motion"). The formula that is used to
calculate the horizontal displacement travelled of the projectile is: displacement =velocity ×time , or
s x =u cos ∝t , where α is the angle that the projectile is launched from relative to the horizontal surface.

The vertical motion of a projectile is constantly being influenced by the gravitational acceleration of the
v f −vi
Earth with the value 9.8 m s−2 ("Projectile Motion"). The formula for average acceleration is: a v =
t
("Projectile Motion"). However, in a projectile that is launched horizontally, the initial velocity is equal to
zero ("Projectile Motion"). As the projectile travels on its path, the formula to calculate the vertical
1 2
displacement is s y =u sin∝ t− g t .
2

When the object is fired horizontally from a height h , meaning α =0 , then the path will be as figure 2
below:

Figure 2: Diagram of a projectile being launched horizontally

When the projectile is launched horizontally, its launching speed is also its horizontal speed, because
cos 0=1 ("Projectile Motion"). However, there will be no vertical speed because sin 0=0 ("Projectile
Motion"). This means the vertical displacement of a projectile being launched horizontally from a height
−1 2
can be found using the formula s y = g t + h ("Projectile Motion").
2

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Although air resistance is often negligible in a projectile motion model, in reality, it can have an effect on
the trajectory as well so its influence needs to be considered, albeit not factored into the calculation. Air
resistance can be considered as a resistive friction force travelling in opposite direction to the
gravitational acceleration of the object ("Elephant And Feather - Air Resistance"). This means as the
object is falling, the air resistance would be travelling upwards. When an object is initially falling through
air, the force is unbalanced, according to Newton First’s Law, where initially there is no force great
enough to counter the gravitational acceleration force ("Elephant And Feather - Air Resistance"). As the
object falls through air, it acquires acceleration ("Elephant And Feather - Air Resistance"). As the object
keeps falling and colliding with air particles, it produces a counter force to the gravitational force of
acceleration ("Elephant And Feather - Air Resistance"). The more air particles, the more air resistance
("Elephant And Feather - Air Resistance"). Due to F=ma , air resistance would rely on the speed of the
falling object and its surface area as well ("Elephant And Feather - Air Resistance"). Therefore, the more
surface area an object has, the higher its air resistance ("Elephant And Feather - Air Resistance"). Each
different material will have different air resistance so therefore this must be considered in the
experiment itself too.

If air resistance is factored into the projectile motion, then the actual path travelled will be shortened
and it will not reach the maximum height that is calculated when air resistance is negligible, as shown in
figure 3:

Figure 3: Diagram comparing the path of the projectile with and without air resistance

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Variables
Types of Variables What they are Explanation
When the projectile is launched, as time passes,
it will travel further from the starting point. It is
Time
Independent t (s )
the only variable that keeps changing as the
projectile is launched as well so therefore it is
the independent variable.
As time passes, the projectile acquires
Distance landed from the
displacement as it moves away from its
Dependent base of the starting point
launching point and downward under the
s(m )
influence of gravity.
They have to be launched at a constant height so
The height in which the that it is absolutely sure that the height where
projectile is launched from the object is launched from does not influence
s(m ) the gravitational acceleration calculated in the
experiment.
Although theoretically, the force of gravitational
acceleration is the same for all objects on Earth
at the same place, in reality there is air
The same object being resistance factored into the experiment as well,
used to launch (a tennis which is considered negligible. Since different
ball) object will have different air resistance
depending on their surface area, it is best to use
the same object for the experiment to minimize
the systematic error caused by air resistance.
Controlled There must be a force acts on the ball to cause it
to gain an initial velocity and begins to travel.
However, this force should be the same so that it
The same horizontal is not a factor that will affect the final calculation
launching force that shoot of the gravitational acceleration. Since the object
the tennis ball is launched horizontally, the vertical velocity of
the object is considered to be 0 anyway, so this
is to ensure that the horizontal velocity is kept
constant
Different stopwatches will have different
systematic error that slightly varies, but it can
Same stopwatch used to still constitute to the final value of the measured
measure time time, so it is best to use one stopwatch to
measure time throughout the entire experiment
so that systematic error is kept constant.
Uncontrolled
Air resistance Air resistance is negligible in this experiment, but
variables

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Material
 Whiteboard marker (that can be wiped off tiled floor)
 100 cm ruler with an uncertainty of ± 0.05 cm
 Trolley with a thrusting spring, shown in figure 4

Figure 4: picture of a thrusting spring trolley, where a metal bar is pressed onto the springs inside the
trolley’s orifice. When a button on top of the trolley is pushed, the spring thrusts the metal bar out and
that is the force used to shoot the ball outwards

 Top of the locker or anywhere with a considerable height above the ground to launch the
projectile. In this particular experiment, the height where the projectile was launch was
181.5 cm
 A tennis ball
 A chair to stand on
 A thin notebook as a raised platform
 A stopwatch with an uncertainty of ± 0.01 s (but the uncertainty would be increased to ± 0.05 s
due to human error)
 *Optional: a partner to perform the experiment with

Risk assessment
A. The trolley may fall off the top of the locker when the metal bar is sprung out, so put a book
underneath the two front wheels while the back wheels are on the locker’s surface, so that the
uneven surface will create a friction force that slows the trolley down and prevents it from
dropping after it recoils.
B. When standing on the chair, make sure it is stabilized, otherwise you will fall down and hurt
yourself.

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Method
1. Place a thin notebook closer to the edge of the 181.5 cm tall locker. Place a tennis ball closer to
the edge of the locker but balance it carefully so it sits just at the top of the edge without falling
down, as shown in figure 5:

Figure 5

2. Stand on a chair in order to reach the trolley easily. Press the button at the top of the trolley and
a metal bar will thrust out from the orifice, producing a thrust force that will shoot the tennis
ball outward at a horizontal distance. Simultaneously, when the button is pressed, the
stopwatch is started.
3. Observe the tennis ball as it falls and when it hits the ground, stop the stopwatch immediately.
Have your partner also observe the path of the tennis ball and mark it with their feet where it
hits the ground before rolling away. Record the time.
4. Use a whiteboard marker and a ruler, then draw a straight line from where your partner marks it
with their feet to the base of the locker, as shown in figure 6

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 Figure 6

5. Measure the length of the straight line with the 100 cm ruler and records the length, as shown
in figure 7

Figure 7

6. Repeat the experiment from step 1 – 5 until 10 sets of results in total is obtained.

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Results
Raw data:
Figure 8 shows the draft results where they were first recorded during the experiment, before being
tabulated.

Figure 8

Table showing the trajectory of a projectile as time passes

Horizontal
Order of Time
distance landed Observation
repetition ( s ) ± 0.05 s
( cm ) ±0.5 cm
1 0.75 230.0 The ball was travelling horizontally first before it’s
dropping down the ground in a parabolic shape.
2 1.00 268.0 The path in which the tennis ball travel is slightly
curved.
3 0.98 235.0 The ball was slightly thrown forward before it landed.

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4 0.98 232.0 The ball was slightly thrown forward before it landed.
5 0.78 194.0 The ball was slightly retracted backward before it
landed.
6 0.80 236.0 The ball was following a curve path before it hit the
ground.
7 1.03 175.0 The ball was travelling a slightly steeper path instead
of travelling further.
8 0.80 172.0 The ball was travelling a slightly steeper path instead
of travelling further.
9 0.85 260.0 The ball was following a curve path before it hit the
ground.
10 0.85 250.0 The ball was following a curve path before it hit the
ground.

Here is a video of the launching of the tennis ball (link: goo.gl/I2GvWU )

Figure 9 is the projectile path marked on the video

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 Figure 9

Processed data
Figure 10 shows the drawn path of the tennis ball’s trajectory:

Figure 10

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 Table showing the trajectory of a projectile as time passes, processed data

Initial velocity Calculated

Order of Horizontal distance travelled ( cm s−1 ) acceleration
Time ( s ) ± 0.05 s
repetition landed ( cm ) ±0.5 cm due to gravity
( cm s−2 )
1 0.75 230.0 306.7 645.3
2 1.00 268.0 268.0 363.0
3 0.98 235.0 239.8 378.0
4 0.98 232.0 236.7 378.0
5 0.78 194.0 248.7 596.6
6 0.80 236.0 295.7 567.2
7 1.03 175.0 169.9 342.2
8 0.80 172.0 215.0 567.2
9 0.85 260.0 305.9 502.4
10 0.85 250.0 294.1 502.4
Average 0.88 225.2 258.0 484.2
Range 0.28 96.0 136.8 303.2
Difference
between
average and 0.15 42.8 48.7 342.2
the largest
quantity
Difference
between
average and 0.13 53.2 88.1 142.1
the smallest
quantity

Figure 11 shows the bar graph of the calculated acceleration of the ball in each trial, with a trend line
drawn linearly across, indicating the average acceleration of these data points.

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 Calculated acceleration due to gravity (𝒄𝒎𝒔^(−𝟐) ) Calculated acceleration for each trial
700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Order of repetition

Figure 11

The following is the calculation of the average launching speed of the projectile, which is
−1
258.0 ±15.2 c m

Time: 0.88 ± 0.05 s

Distance: 225.2 ±0.5 cm

0.05
% uncertainties of times: ×100 %=5.68 %
0.88

0.5
%uncertainties of distance: ×100 %=0.222 %
225.2

Total % uncertainties: 5.68 %+ 0.222%=5.90 %

Average speed = 258.0 cm s−1. Uncertainty of speed: 5.90 % × 258.0=15.2 cm s−1.

∴ Average speed = 258.0 ±15.2 cm s−1.

The following is the formula used to calculate the initial launching speed of the projectile and the
formula to calculate the vertical acceleration of the projectile.

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 1 2
Since y= g t + h and x=ut and since the tennis ball is launched horizontally, initial velocity
2
x
travelled is u= .
t

In this experiment, h=181.5 cm, y final =0 because the particle has landed on the ground, at
t average=0.88 s.

1 2 2h
Hence, g t =h, thus g= 2
2 t

The following shows the calculation of the vertical acceleration of the particle, which is
−2
303.2 ±17.2 c m

0.05
% uncertainties of times: ×100 %=5.68 %
0.88

Vertical acceleration: 303.2 cm s−2

Uncertainties: 303.2 ×5.68 %=17.2 cm s−2

∴ vertical acceleration = 303.2 ±17.2 c m−2

Conclusion
The aim of this experiment is to investigate the experimental value of the acceleration due to
gravitational force on Earth using projectile motion. It forms the research question, “What is the
experimentally calculated value of the acceleration due to free fall of a projectile motion?”. Through my
research, I came to the conclusion that all objects, when air resistance is neglected, falls through Earth
at a constant acceleration of roughly 9.8 m s−2 on Earth’s surface, regardless of their mass. 9.8 m s−2 can
be converted to 980 cm s−2. The experiment uses cm instead of m because the uncertainties are of very
small increments, so if converted to Therefore, theoretically, when launched through air, gravity should
be the only thing acting on the object and hence the trajectory produced is a symmetrical parabolic
−1 2
curve, according to the formula s y = g t + h, where h is the height in which the projectile is launched
2
from. When tracing the shape of the curve in which the tennis ball travel, the tracing produces a quasi-
parabolic shaped, as shown in figure 11. The experimentally calculated value for the vertical acceleration
of a projectile through air is 303.2 ±6.87 c m−2, which is nowhere near the secondary data of
98 0 cm s−2. This indicates that the experimentally calculated acceleration due to free fall is not
accurate. Air resistance is a factored systematic error as well, which indicates the trajectory of the tennis
ball. The height of 181.5 cm, which is on top of a senior locker, was the only location that was near the

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classroom enough to be supervised by the teacher, but perhaps that height is not high enough for the
path to travel at a larger distance, so there are a lot of random errors resulting from the imprecision of
human reflexes between the hand-eyes coordination.

Evaluation
The method ensures that the experiment is repeated 10 times to collect a large set of data in order to
calculate an average and a range. The large amount of data also allows random errors to be factored
out. However, as shown by the processed data table, the difference between the calculated average of
the vertical acceleration and its largest and smallest data is very high, which suggests that the data is
very spread and it lacks both accuracy and precision. Through repetition, I discovered that even though
the path that the tennis ball travelled was a parabolic curve, perhaps the curve was skewered more than
expected because air resistance played a bigger role in the launching of the projectile more than the
assumption that air resistance should be negligible. It is also possible that the height where the tennis
ball was launched from was not high enough, so when the push trolley thrusted out a force that caused
the tennis ball to be launched, the distance landed and the time taken to travel was too short so it
caused random errors because the human reflexes under one second was not precise enough. All of the
launches occurred in less than one second so it was very difficult to obtain a precise data set. Despite
the multitude of repetition in the experiments, the data are neither precise nor accurate, so therefore
the experiment itself is unreliable.

Due to the unavailability of precise equipment such as a flash timer (which relies on purely mechanical
reaction, much more precise than human reflexes), accurate data for time was very difficult to obtain.
The path travelled and the height it was launched from were relatively not significant enough for the
time to be any longer than a second, not counting reaction time, so therefore, it creates room for
random errors adding on top of the systematic errors caused by the air resistance. The method
however, still allows us to observe the path in which the tennis ball was travelling. The experimentally
observed trajectory of the tennis ball was curved and parabolic, so that part of the experiment was
valid. However, since the calculated gravitational acceleration of the vertical component of the
projectile was 303.2 ±6.87 c m−2, nowhere near the known secondary data, the experiment itself is not
valid and accurate as a whole. However, according to the background research, air resistance was an
important factor that would affect the experiment’s result as well, it is better to appreciate that the
calculation is beyond the permitted level of accuracy that can be derived from the current school
laboratory equipment.

Bibliography
1. "Elephant And Feather - Air Resistance". the Physics Classroom. N.p., 2016. Web. 26 Sept. 2016.
2. "Projectile Motion". BBC. N.p., 2016. Web. 26 Sept. 2016.

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3. "Projectile Motion". APlusPhysics. N.p., 2016. Web. 26 Sept. 2016.
4. "Projectile Motion". Tutor 4 Physics. N.p., 2016. Web. 26 Sept. 2016.

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