Goal
The goal of this experiment is to verify Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion.
Introduction
Newton’s 2nd Law states that when an external net force acts on an object, the acceleration of the object is proportional to the net force, and it also occurs in the same direction. The acceleration is also inversely proportional to the net force. Thus, the net force, which is the sum of all the forces acting on an object, is equal to the mass of the object multiplied by its acceleration. In this experiment, a cart with a mass M was placed on a frictionless air track. The cart was attached to a hanging mass (alligator clips), represented by m, by a string through a pulley. The instruments used in the experiment are: a cart, string, track, 5 alligator clips, …show more content…
A reason for the error could be due to the time measurements. It was difficult to stop the stopwatch exactly after the cart moved 0.9 m on the track. Also, the track could have not been balanced perfectly on the table. If it was not balanced, the normal force would not be exactly perpendicular to the tension force.
Conclusion The goal of the experiment was to verify Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion. The expected value of the mass M of the moving cart was 0.2997 kg which was given in the beginning of the experiment. The experimental value of M was 0.2329 kg, which was derived from the slope of the tension v. acceleration graph. There was a 22% error due to time measurements, which could be reduced in the future if there was a way to stop the stopwatch automatically once the cart passes the desired displacement. Overall, the results supported the theory of Newton’s 2nd Law of
The goal of this experiment is to verify Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion.
Introduction
Newton’s 2nd Law states that when an external net force acts on an object, the acceleration of the object is proportional to the net force, and it also occurs in the same direction. The acceleration is also inversely proportional to the net force. Thus, the net force, which is the sum of all the forces acting on an object, is equal to the mass of the object multiplied by its acceleration. In this experiment, a cart with a mass M was placed on a frictionless air track. The cart was attached to a hanging mass (alligator clips), represented by m, by a string through a pulley. The instruments used in the experiment are: a cart, string, track, 5 alligator clips, …show more content…
A reason for the error could be due to the time measurements. It was difficult to stop the stopwatch exactly after the cart moved 0.9 m on the track. Also, the track could have not been balanced perfectly on the table. If it was not balanced, the normal force would not be exactly perpendicular to the tension force.
Conclusion The goal of the experiment was to verify Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion. The expected value of the mass M of the moving cart was 0.2997 kg which was given in the beginning of the experiment. The experimental value of M was 0.2329 kg, which was derived from the slope of the tension v. acceleration graph. There was a 22% error due to time measurements, which could be reduced in the future if there was a way to stop the stopwatch automatically once the cart passes the desired displacement. Overall, the results supported the theory of Newton’s 2nd Law of