Wednesday 20 March 2024

3.7 Freefall and g

Starter:
What is g?
What is the value and unit assigned to g?

How could we calculate g experimentally?

Task:
a) Use equations of motion to derive an expression for the acceleration of free fall if you
have a given drop height and the time for the drop for any given start velocity.
b) Rewrite the equation for an initial stationary start.
c) Describe why this equation is unlikely to predict accurately the actual outcome from
experimental data?

Use: s = ut + ½ at2
s - ut = ½ at2
2(s – ut) = a
t2
If initial velocity, u is zero then:
2s = g
t2
Various approaches exist to determine a value for g.
Many of these involve dropping objects and recording
the time of descent.
The better methods are those able to measure the time
most accurately.
Measuring g – simple drop and time
• Drop a small ball bearing from a ‘high as possible’ height
and record the time.
• Record the height and time, REPEAT and average
• Repeat for a wide range of heights (approx 10)
• As start velocity is zero then:
s = ½ g t2
• Variables s and t can be plotted on graph and value of g
obtained from gradient
• Above equation equated to straight line, y = mx + c. y = mx +c
Plotting s on y-axis and t2 on x axis, with the y-intercept at ↓ ↓↓
0,0 then gradient will be ½ g. s = ½gt2
Measuring g – Ticker tape & Timer

• Ticker-timer marks dots at regular intervals, i.e. 0.02 s.

• Identify a 2 dot section near the start of the tape. Measure its length
of the section and calculate its average velocity.
• Repeat for a 2 dot section near the end.
• Measure the distance between the two ‘2 dot’ sections to work out
the distance travelled.
• Count the dots between the two sets of dots and calculate the time
to travel.
• Use equations of motion to calculate acceleration.
Measuring g – Electronic timer
• Eliminates human error in timing
• Use fixed height and allow equipment to
record time for ball bearing to drop.
• Repeat 5 times and take average time
(remember to ignore and repeat any
anomalous results)
• Use equations of motion to determine
“g” s = ½ g t2

3 2 1 Your time is 0.321s.

Measuring g – Light gates

• Weight attached to card

‘interrupt’.
• Designed to break light beam
twice as weight falls.
• Computer calculates velocity of
weight twice as it falls, and find its
acceleration.
• Repeat several times and take
average value for acceleration.
Measuring g – Taking pictures/video
Use the displacement-time data read from the video image
and time to collate data and produce graph
For this piece of work to count towards Practical Activity Group 1 of the
GCE Physics Practical Endorsement you should have evidence of the data
collected from your group in a clear and logical format.
You should have used the data collected to calculate a value for g,
explaining clearly how you have used the data in each calculation.
You should be able to calculate the percentage difference between your
calculated values and the accepted value.
You should be able to identify sources of uncertainty in each method and
link these to an evaluation of each method.
 Sample Results
Time /s
Displacement
/m Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Average t² /s²

0.4 0.284 0.278 0.277 0.2796 0.078

0.5 0.307 0.325 0.318 0.316 0.099
0.6 0.344 0.340 0.345 0.343 0.118
0.7 0.366 0.367 0.390 0.376 0.141
0.8 0.405 0.400 0.397 0.4006 0.160
 From the graph, the gradient is
4.8507.
Investigating the Acceleration of Freefall
0.9 This means
0.8
f(x) = 4.85071112366959 x + 0.0217952340585852
0.7

0.6

0.5
s /m

0.4

0.3 Percentage difference from

0.2 accepted value:
0.1

0
0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.15 0.16 0.17

t² /s²
So there is a 1.107%
difference.