Introduction:
In this lab, we will be analyzing the effect of force on the acceleration of a cart both with and without added mass. In a sense we will be seeking to confirm Newton's second law of motion.
As stated in the second law of motion, force is equal to mass multiplied by the acceleration or F=ma. When we increase the mass we would expect the acceleration to decrease when force is the same as the rewritten equation would be f/m=a.
In this case it is important to specify the difference between mass and weight. Scientifically mass is the amount of matter in a given space and can be though of the amount of "stuff" in a given volume. Because of this measurement mass will remain the same regardless of gravity. Weight however is different as weight is an arbitrary figure of an object under the influence of …show more content…
As shown above we have a weight hanging below a pulley and force sensor, which converts the downward force acting on the rope to a horizontal force acting on the cart. Below the car we have our track to keep the cart guided straight and below that we have our table and shims when necessary.
Once we were finished collecting data, we took the average of the 3 trials for each weight and averaged them. We then took the averages and inserted them as the mass into Newton's second law of motion. With that our equation was F=m(9.8m/s^2), where force was the force acting upon the cart and mass was the mass of our weight, and acceleration being 9.8 m/s^2 or the acceleration due to gravity.
Results:
After conducting the series of tests as described in the previous section we found the following results.
The effect of acceleration under the influence of additional mass.
Data from our force lab. Column 1-3 shows the results gathered in the first trial from 50, 20 and 10 gram weights. Column 4-6 shows the results gathered from 50, 20 and 10 gram weights when an additional 500g was added to the
In this lab, we will be analyzing the effect of force on the acceleration of a cart both with and without added mass. In a sense we will be seeking to confirm Newton's second law of motion.
As stated in the second law of motion, force is equal to mass multiplied by the acceleration or F=ma. When we increase the mass we would expect the acceleration to decrease when force is the same as the rewritten equation would be f/m=a.
In this case it is important to specify the difference between mass and weight. Scientifically mass is the amount of matter in a given space and can be though of the amount of "stuff" in a given volume. Because of this measurement mass will remain the same regardless of gravity. Weight however is different as weight is an arbitrary figure of an object under the influence of …show more content…
As shown above we have a weight hanging below a pulley and force sensor, which converts the downward force acting on the rope to a horizontal force acting on the cart. Below the car we have our track to keep the cart guided straight and below that we have our table and shims when necessary.
Once we were finished collecting data, we took the average of the 3 trials for each weight and averaged them. We then took the averages and inserted them as the mass into Newton's second law of motion. With that our equation was F=m(9.8m/s^2), where force was the force acting upon the cart and mass was the mass of our weight, and acceleration being 9.8 m/s^2 or the acceleration due to gravity.
Results:
After conducting the series of tests as described in the previous section we found the following results.
The effect of acceleration under the influence of additional mass.
Data from our force lab. Column 1-3 shows the results gathered in the first trial from 50, 20 and 10 gram weights. Column 4-6 shows the results gathered from 50, 20 and 10 gram weights when an additional 500g was added to the