PHY 101L Module Four Lab Report Gravity (1)
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PHY 101L Module Four Lab Report Gravity
Name: Thomas Hubert
Date: 08/28/2023
Complete this lab report by replacing the bracketed text with the relevant information.
Overview
Gravity is the force that pulls everything on or near Earth down toward the center of the Earth. As objects fall, they tend to accelerate in response to gravity. In this investigation, you’ll explore whether the mass and the distance an object falls affect its rate of acceleration.
Safety
Read all instructions for this laboratory activity before beginning. Follow the instructions closely and observe established laboratory safety practices.
Safety goggles should be worn during this lab. The activities in this lab involve dropping spheres that accelerate and bounce. Take care while performing these lab activities to avoid injuring hands, fingers, feet, and toes with moving or falling masses. Make sure the lab area is clear of pets, children, and breakable objects.
Do not eat, drink, or chew gum while performing this activity. Wash your hands with soap and water before and after performing the activity. Clean up the work area with soap and water after completing the investigation. Keep pets and children away from lab materials and equipment.
Time Requirements
Preparation: 15 minutes
Experiment: 60 minutes
Materials Needed From the Lab Kit
Tape measure
Steel sphere
Acrylic sphere
A sphere of similar size as the steel/acrylic sphere made out of clay
Pocket scale
Materials Needed but Not Supplied in the Lab Kit
Stopwatch
Calculator
Erasable pencil or tape for height markers
Procedure
1.
Before performing this experiment, develop two scientific hypotheses: a.
First hypothesis: how mass will affect the acceleration of the sphere b.
Second hypothesis: how height will affect the acceleration of the sphere
2.
Document these hypotheses in your response to the first question in your gravity lab report below. Support each of these hypotheses with explanation and reasoning to support your
prediction.
3.
Use the tape measure to mark every 0.5 meters on a wall, up to 2.5 meters. This can be done with an erasable pencil mark or a small piece of tape.
4.
Select the steel sphere from your kit and measure its mass using the pocket scale. Record the sphere’s mass on the chart below.
5.
Using the stopwatch, time each fall as you drop the steel sphere from each of the measured marks, starting at 0.5 m and ending at 2.5 m. For each drop, start the timer upon releasing the sphere. Stop the timer when the sphere hits the ground. Record each fall time on the chart below. Repeat this process two more times for a total of three times at each drop height. Calculate the average fall time for each drop height. 6.
Repeat the procedures described in Steps 4 and 5 for the acrylic and clay spheres.
7.
Create a graph of height versus average time for your data. Represent time on the x
-axis (the horizontal line) and height on the y
-axis (the vertical line).
8.
For each of the heights, calculate the acceleration of the sphere using the average fall time. The following formula may be helpful, but you’re welcome to use different physics principles if preferred:
Height = initial velocity x time + ½ acceleration x time
2
Note that in this experiment, initial velocity is zero, because the sphere is dropped from rest. If we use an initial velocity = 0 and solve for acceleration in terms of height and time, we get:
Acceleration = (2 x height)/ time
2
9.
Create a graph of acceleration (using the data collected from the height of 2.0 meters for each sphere) and the masses for each of the three spheres. Mass should be represented on the x
-axis (the horizontal line) and acceleration should be represented on the y
-axis (the vertical line).
Data for the steel sphere: Mass = 67.5 grams
Table 1
Height (m)
Time (s)
Time (s)
Time(s)
Avg Time (s)
Calculated Acceleration (m/s/s)
0.5
0.29
0.35
0.35
0.33
9.183
1.0
0.42
0.48
0.42
0.44
10.331
1.5
0.54
0.55
0.54
0.543
10.175
2.0
0.66
0.67
0.64
0.657
9.27
2.5
0.67
0.61
0.63
0.637
7.849
Data for the acrylic sphere: Mass = 10.2 grams
Table 2
Height (m)
Time (s)
Time (s)
Time(s)
Avg Time (s)
Calculated Acceleration (m/s/s)
0.5
0.21
0.35
0.35
0.303
10.892
1.0
0.42
0.49
0.48
0.463
9.329
1.5
0.55
0.55
0.49
0.53
10.679
2.0
0.61
0.62
0.61
0.613
10.649
2.5
0.68
0.74
0.69
0.703
10.117
Data for the clay sphere: Mass = 15.1 grams
Table 3
Height (m)
Time (s)
Time (s)
Time(s)
Avg Time (s)
Calculated Acceleration (m/s/s)
0.5
0.21
0.21
0.29
0.237
17.803
1.0
0.41
0.48
0.41
0.433
10.667
1.5
0.48
0.55
0.54
0.523
10.968
2.0
0.61
0.54
0.61
0.587
11.609
2.5
0.67
0.69
0.69
0.683
10.719
Lab Questions
1.
Before performing the experiment, develop two scientific hypotheses about 1) how mass will affect the acceleration of the sphere, and 2) how height will affect the acceleration of the sphere. Be sure to explain your reasoning for each.
The mass of the sphere will slightly affect acceleration due to air resistance. The mass of the sphere should not affect the acceleration because the force of gravity is constant. The height will
not affect the acceleration of the sphere because all objects fall at the same rate.
2.
Once the experiment is complete, address if your initial hypothesis was correct. Do this for each of the two hypotheses that you have written above. Support your argument with data you collected from the lab.
I was correct that the mass of the sphere would affect its acceleration. I noticed the heaviest (steel) sphere had the lowest acceleration. The other two spheres seemed relatively similar. I observed that the acceleration for all three spheres at the 2.5m height was slightly lower than the 2m height. 3.
In what way does acceleration vary with mass and height? Does this make sense relative to what
you understand about the way gravity works? Why or why not?
Acceleration does not vary with mass in free fall. This is because the force of gravity on an object
is proportional to its mass, but the acceleration of an object is inversely proportional to its mass.
So, the greater the mass of an object, the greater the force of gravity on it, but the smaller its
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acceleration. This effect cancels out, so all objects fall at the same rate of acceleration in a vacuum. (Benson, n.d.)
References:
Benson, T. (n.d.). Free Falling Object
. Www.grc.nasa.gov. https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-
12/VirtualAero/BottleRocket/airplane/ffall.html