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Gravity and Constant Acceleration LAB questions Purpose : The objective of the e

ID: 3307854 • Letter: G

Question

Gravity and Constant Acceleration LAB questions

Purpose: The objective of the experiment was to measure the acceleration of gravity within about 1% precision using a Picket Fence and Photogate.

Procedure: A Photogate was attached to a ring stand with the arms horizontal so that the Picket Fence could fall freely onto a foam pad (to avoid damage) and Vernier software was connected to record all data. The Picket Fence was dropped from higher above the Photogate and parameters were recorded per vernier. A total of six trials was done to measure the slope and fit parameters.

Data

Table 1. Slope and parameters of the 6 trials

Slope (m/s2)

Fit Parameter A  

Fit Parameter B

Fit Parameter C

Trial 1   

9.767

4.883

1.061

-8.711 x 10-006

Trial 2

9.753

4.882

1.033

-1.531 x 10-005

Trial 3

9.841

2.748

1.473

0.02375

Trial 4

9.848

4.920

1.017

1.444 x 10-005

Trial 5

9.872

4.975

0.9841

-0.0001943

Trial 6

9.814

2.689

1.513

0.02371

1. should the drop position of the picket fence have an influence on the measured value og? why or why not? do your observations agree?

2. if you had thrown the picket fence downward, releasing it before it got to the photogate, so that it had an initial velocity, would the initial velocity have influenced the measured value of g? why or why not? if so,what effect would you expect it to have on g?

Slope (m/s2)

Fit Parameter A  

Fit Parameter B

Fit Parameter C

Trial 1   

9.767

4.883

1.061

-8.711 x 10-006

Trial 2

9.753

4.882

1.033

-1.531 x 10-005

Trial 3

9.841

2.748

1.473

0.02375

Trial 4

9.848

4.920

1.017

1.444 x 10-005

Trial 5

9.872

4.975

0.9841

-0.0001943

Trial 6

9.814

2.689

1.513

0.02371

Explanation / Answer

1. The drop position of the picket fence will not have an influence on the measured value of g. The thing that needs to be taken care of is that picket fence remain vertical during the fall. It can be seen from the observations that the value of g is almost comparable in all the cases with different parameters.

2. If the picket fence is thrown downward having initial velocity, even then it will not influence the measured value of g. Since it might have more velocity it will pass more quickly through the photogate so the time measured will also reduce. Ultimately there will be no effect on the value of gravity obtained.