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PHET Free Fall Lab

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524 views4 pages

PHET Free Fall Lab

Uploaded by

leonardo.latinaid
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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PHY100 FREE-FALL LAB

THEORY AND OBJECTIVE


Galileo demonstrated that the acceleration of gravity near the Earth’s surface is constant and has
a value of 9.80 m/s2 for all objects, regardless of their mass. The equation that relates the distance
traveled to the acceleration and time is
1 2
d= a t
2
( 1)

In this online activity, you will make a series of observations and measurements to verify this
claim.

Useful equations.
Distance equation Acceleration in terms Percent error
of distance
1 2
d= a t
2d
a= 2
| A−M |
% error = × 100 %
2 t A
A=accepted value
M =measureded value

PROCEDURE
Part 1: Familiarizing yourself with the simulation
Open the PHET simulation at Projectile Motion Simulation and select Lab. You should see the
following screen:

First of all, familiarize yourself with the simulation by changing parameters.


 Leaving everything as it is, change the object (Cannonball, Pumpkin, etc.) and launch
them, one by one. Include a screenshot of your trial.
PHY100 FREE-FALL LAB

1. What is the relationship between the trajectory of the object and its mass?
 Now select one of the objects and leaving its mass unchanged, change its diameter a few
times and launch it. Include a screenshot of your trial.
2. What is the relationship between the trajectory of the object and its shape/size?

Part 2: Measuring the Acceleration of Free Fall


In this part we want to verify that equation (1) given above gives indeed the correct value for the
acceleration of gravity.
Change the angle of launch to 90 degrees (since we want to simulate free fall) and adjust the
initial speed to 10 m/s, as shown in the screenshot below. Choose any object you like for this
part.

 Launch the object and using the tool


measure the height reached by the object and the time it takes to reach the highest point.
Increase the initial speed in increments of 1 m/s until you get to 15 and fill the table
below.
Since the object starts from the ground and falls back on the ground, it has an initial velocity
upward. We want to measure the acceleration for an object that starts from rest. So we are going
PHY100 FREE-FALL LAB

to do this by launching the object upward, but measuring the time and distance that it falls down
from its highest point in the trajectory. That is, we are going to measure the distance and time
only for the descending part. Luckily, this is exactly what the measuring tool records, because
the upward distance is the same as the downward distance and the time it takes to go upward is
the same as the time it takes to go downward. For example, if the tool recorded the following

d=4.6 m

numbers , you would just record the values in the table ( and
t=0.7 s). To calculate the value of acceleration, we have to solve Equation (1), which gives
1 2 2d
d= a t → a= 2
2 t
( 2)
3. Fill the table below with your results. (Report measurements with the correct number of
significant figures)
Table 1.
d (m) t ( s)
( )
2 2
t (s ) 2d m
a= 2 2
t s

4. Now, using the five values of acceleration that you obtained in the table, calculate the
average value of acceleration, by adding all the values and dividing the result by 6. This
will be your measured value of acceleration.

a meas .=¿

The accepted value of acceleration is


PHY100 FREE-FALL LAB

a acc. =¿ 9.80 m/s2

5. Using the equation given at the top of the handout, calculate the percent error between the
accepted value of acceleration and the measured value of acceleration.

% error =¿

6. Your value is probably not exactly what Galileo predicted. This might be due to different
factors, such as rounding, and slight improper measurement of the height. However,
within experiment error, do your results seem to confirm Galileo’s claim? Explain.

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