BUBBLE PROBLEM LAB

Name: Reatlegile Pitsoane

Student number: 4348419

Group number: 13
Due date: March 2024
Abstract
The purpose of the was to create a simulation of the bubble and find the drop time of the
bubble as it hits the ground, the mass of the bubble, find the cross-sectional area using the
radius in the y direction. The motion of the bubble was shot in a video and then taken to a
tracker app to track the motion of the bubble so that the diameter, the velocity, and the
acceleration of the bubble can be tracked. The data of the bubble was then extracted from
tracker app to excel where the radius, terminal velocity and mass were calculated using the
drag force formula. The uncertainty of the terminal velocity and radius were determined
using the standard deviation of the mean while the uncertainty of the mass was determined
using propagation method. The results where then recorded and put in a standard form of best
estimate ± the uncertainty.

Introduction
Determining the mass of the bubble using tracker app, which will analyse the motion of the
bubble in video. By tracking the motion of the bubble as it moves downwards it will yield the
necessary data to determine the acceleration, velocity and position of the bubble.

Background Theory
The motion of the bubble can be determined using newtons second law of motion. The
bubble will experience a gravitational force( Fg=mg )that is downwards and drag force that is
acting upwards as the bubble moves down. This will result in bubble reaching terminal
velocity and acceleration being zero. According to newtons second law the force acting on an
object is equal to the product of its mass and acceleration (F=ma). Since the bubble will be
experiencing terminal velocity the drag force will be balanced resulting in the net force being
zero. The drag force acting on the bubble will be expressed as (D=1/2 CpAv2 ) ,where :

 D is the drag force

 p is the density
 v is the velocity of the bubble
 A is the cross sectional area
 C is the coefficient of drag

the drag force acting on the bubble can be calculated using the cross-sectional area that will
be calculated using radius of the bubble and pi, the density, terminal velocity, and the
coefficient of drag. Since the sum of forces acting on the bubble is equal to the mass and the
acceleration of the bubble an equation can be derived from this relationship to determine the
mass.

Apparatus
 1. Meter stick- the meter stick was used to measure the height of the height of the black
chart at which the bubble will be blown from above it.
2. Black chart- it was used as a clear background so that when the video of the bubble is
transferred to the tracking app, it can focus solely on the bubble.
3. Bubble wand-
4. Bostik- it was used to hold the black chart on the wall.
5. Cell phone- used to take a video of the bubble from where it was blown until it
dropped or busted.
6. Two wooden chairs- the two wooden chairs were used to put the cell phone on a
stable surface so that the video does not come out blur or shaking. One chair was
placed on top of the other.
7. One wooden chair- it was used by one of the students in the group to be climbed when
blowing out the bubble above the black chart’s height.
8. Tracking app- the tracking app was used to track the bubble’s acceleration, velocity,
position, drop time and the diameter.

Experimental Method

1. Set-up:
 Lay the black chart on the wall.
 Two chairs were used, and one was put on top of the other to place the phone
on a stable surface where the video of a bubble dropping was taken.
 One chair was used by one of the students in the group to climb while blowing
the bubble above the black chart that was laid on the wall.

2. Procedure:
 Use a meter stick to measure the height of the black chart and record the
height.
 Climb on top of the chair and blow the bubble vertically from above the black
chart’s height making sure that the bubble goes through the black chart.
 Start to record when the bubble is blown, making sure that the camera setting
is stable.
 When done recording, transfer the video taken to tracker app to track the
acceleration, velocity, and position of the bubble.
 The data was then exported to excel workbook where the mass of the bubble
was calculated using Newton’s second law of motion.
3. Repetition
  Repeat step 3 of the procedure at least five times for reliability and accuracy
purposes.
 Record all measurements obtained in excel.

Results and Analysis

The data was analysed by calculating the average radius and the terminal velocity and its
standard deviations. The results are shown in the table below:

Discussions
The experimental results shows how the mass was determined and the uncertainty
Conclusion

References