Introduction
The goal of this experiment is to determine the acceleration due to gravity, coefficient of kinetic friction, and the tension present in the string. These values will be found by setting up a system in which a cart is placed on track with a negligible amount of friction and attaching it to a weighted hanger with a string. The acceleration of the hanger will then be measured using the Vernier motion detector. The expected results of this lab include: the acceleration due to gravity being ~9.8m/s2, coefficient of kinetic friction being 0 due to the friction-less track, and the tension in the string being equal to the weight of the hanger. The coefficient of kinetic friction should theoretically be 0 if the track is truly friction-less. …show more content…
Method
Measure the mass of the cart and hanger and convert grams into kilograms
Set up the cart on the track and attach it to the string and weighted hanger placed on the pulley system
Set up the Vernier motion detector under the hanger to appropriately measure its acceleration
Hold the cart in place until the motion detector has started tracking
Release the cart and use the measured velocity of the cart to graph the acceleration as a function of time
Select the appropriate area of the graph and measure the slope
Record the value and repeat steps 4-6 four more times and average the data to ensure a more accurate result
Determine the experimental acceleration due to gravity by using the measured acceleration and assuming a friction-less track in the formula for total forces acting on an object(Fnet = m*a)
Derive the values of the coefficient of kinetic friction and the tension in the string while using the accepted value of acceleration due to gravity and the measured acceleration of the cart in the formula used in the previous step(Fnet = m*a) …show more content…
Using this value and the theoretical value of acceleration due to gravity(9.8m/s2), the experimental value was 11.5% less than the accepted value. When including the force of kinetic friction acting on the cart, the track, while not entirely friction-less, has a negligible amount of kinetic friction as the coefficient of kinetic friction equaled 0.012. In theory, the tension in the string should be equal to the weight of the hanger(0.49N). The experimental result was not far off at 0.46N. Three reasons for any discrepancy would include: inaccurate and/or imprecise measuring tools such as the scale or the Vernier motion detector, any observational error e.g., misreading any measured values, and any theoretical errors such as a not using proper equations. Three ways the experiment could be improved and decrease the discrepancies would include: using more accurate/precise measuring tools, excluding any clearly outlying data, and running more trials to ensure a more precise
The goal of this experiment is to determine the acceleration due to gravity, coefficient of kinetic friction, and the tension present in the string. These values will be found by setting up a system in which a cart is placed on track with a negligible amount of friction and attaching it to a weighted hanger with a string. The acceleration of the hanger will then be measured using the Vernier motion detector. The expected results of this lab include: the acceleration due to gravity being ~9.8m/s2, coefficient of kinetic friction being 0 due to the friction-less track, and the tension in the string being equal to the weight of the hanger. The coefficient of kinetic friction should theoretically be 0 if the track is truly friction-less. …show more content…
Method
Measure the mass of the cart and hanger and convert grams into kilograms
Set up the cart on the track and attach it to the string and weighted hanger placed on the pulley system
Set up the Vernier motion detector under the hanger to appropriately measure its acceleration
Hold the cart in place until the motion detector has started tracking
Release the cart and use the measured velocity of the cart to graph the acceleration as a function of time
Select the appropriate area of the graph and measure the slope
Record the value and repeat steps 4-6 four more times and average the data to ensure a more accurate result
Determine the experimental acceleration due to gravity by using the measured acceleration and assuming a friction-less track in the formula for total forces acting on an object(Fnet = m*a)
Derive the values of the coefficient of kinetic friction and the tension in the string while using the accepted value of acceleration due to gravity and the measured acceleration of the cart in the formula used in the previous step(Fnet = m*a) …show more content…
Using this value and the theoretical value of acceleration due to gravity(9.8m/s2), the experimental value was 11.5% less than the accepted value. When including the force of kinetic friction acting on the cart, the track, while not entirely friction-less, has a negligible amount of kinetic friction as the coefficient of kinetic friction equaled 0.012. In theory, the tension in the string should be equal to the weight of the hanger(0.49N). The experimental result was not far off at 0.46N. Three reasons for any discrepancy would include: inaccurate and/or imprecise measuring tools such as the scale or the Vernier motion detector, any observational error e.g., misreading any measured values, and any theoretical errors such as a not using proper equations. Three ways the experiment could be improved and decrease the discrepancies would include: using more accurate/precise measuring tools, excluding any clearly outlying data, and running more trials to ensure a more precise