EXPERIMENT 5

FORCE AND ACCELERATION

Introduction:

Newton’s second law states that the net force acting on a body is proportional to the
body’s acceleration. This implies that when the sum of all the forces acting on the body
increases, the acceleration of the body also increases. The direction of the body’s acceleration is
in the same direction as the resultant force acting on it.
Mathematically,

Objective:
To determine by graphical analysis the relationship between the force F and the
acceleration a of an object with a constant mass.

Materials:
Linear air-track set-up, sets of masses, and millisecond timer

Procedure:

1. Position and level the air-track.

2. Weigh the glider (with the opaque strips) and place 40-g mass on it (20 g on each side).

3. Tie a string to the glider and let this string pass over the pulley located on the other end of
the air-track. Tie the other end of the string to the weight hanger.

4. Determine the relative position of the photo-eye detector. The relative position of the
photo-eye detector can be read from the distance scale attached to the air track. The
reference position x of the glider is taken as the right edge of the opaque strip attached to
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the glider, as read from the air track scale. (Always place an additional opaque strip on
the far side of the glider to preserve glider balance.)

To calculate for x , first place the left-handed photo eye near the middle of the track, and
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connect it to input A of the timer. Next place the glider in its starting position. To do this,
start the blower, move the glider so it touches the magnetic starter, press the HOLD
button, and then stop the blower. Without moving the glider, move the left-handed photo-
eye toward the glider until the green light on the “photo-eye” is lit (timer starts counting);
 move the photo-eye a bit forward and back to determine this exact position. x equals the
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scale reading at this position.

5. Set the timer range switch to a range that displays four significant figures, and the
function switch to A start B stop. Connect the cable from the magnetic starter to timer
input A, and the cable from the photo-eye to timer input B. With this configuration the
timer starts when you release the HOLD button and stops as the opaque strip passes the
photo-eye. Move the photo-eye 30cm from the initial position x of the glider. Set this
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position as accurately as possible.

6. Hang 20-g mass on the weight hanger.

7. Release the HOLD button. Record the time for the glider, starting from rest, to move the
distance (x-x ). Make four time measurements.
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8. Repeat steps 6 – 7 and hang masses at 20-g interval. Do this until the total mass on the
weight hanger is 100g.

9. Calculate the acceleration of the glider in each case. Since the cart starts from rest, you
may use the equation x – x = v t + ½ at² to solve the acceleration.
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10. Plot the graph of the force (weight of the hanging masses + weight hanger) versus
acceleration and determine the slope of the graph.
 EXPERIMENT 9

FORCE AND ACCELERATION

NAMES: ____________________________ SECTION: ___________

DATE PERFORMED: _______________ DATE

SUBMITTED: _______________

1. Data Sheet

Total mass of the glider: __________ x-x = __________

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Hanging Mass Time 1 Time 2 Time 3 Time 4 Time Acceleration

averag m/s²
e
20g
40g
60g
80g
100g

2. What is the relationship between the acceleration of the glider and the weight of the hanging
mass? ________________________________________________________________________
3. What is the value of the slope of the graph? What does it signify?
______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
4. A force of 100N gives an object of unknown mass an acceleration of 20 m/s² in the same
direction as the applied force. What amount of force is needed to give the same mass an
acceleration of 25m/s²? Show your solution below.