Copy of Lab-1 Report.pdf

Lab 1 Motion in 1 Dimension Goals: - The purpose of this lab is to demonstrate/explore some real world applications of motion, specifically acceleration, velocity, and time using the photogate sensor. Moreover, this lab helps to familiarize us with the Capstone and Excel applications. Procedure: - In part 1, we dropped a ﬂagged ruler through the photogate sensor to record the time between each ﬂag. The data was placed into a table which recorded time (seconds), position (m), and velocity(m/s). This procedure was repeated by 6 teams which was documented in excel. Some discrepancies that were found between tests were that depending on the drop height of the ruler the position and times recorded varied and in some cases did not exist. Error and precautions: - An error that could have occurred was the picket fence not clearly going through the photogate. The measurements would have been off or if the red light on the back of the stand never went off that would mean no data was collected and the run would have to be restarted. - Another error would be conversions and putting in incorrect ﬂag spacing measurements. The computer would collect incorrect values for the picket fence position, which would affect the measured velocity. Results:

Trial Acceleration m/s 1 4.8418 2 0.0929 3 0.1171 4 0.0966 5 0.2425 6 0.0841 avg 0.9125 stand dev 1.75805969 Questions: Question 1 . Looking at the data, you should notice that the time difference between successive data points is smaller and smaller the farther the picket fence falls. Why is this? - The difference between the successive points getting smaller and smaller is the result of acceleration. The photogate sensor is recording the times between the subsequent lines on the ruler. As the ruler accelerates and gains velocity or overall displacement, naturally the times between the next dash will shorten. Question 2 . How does the computer know the velocity when all it is measuring is time? Hint: what is the other part of the equation for average velocity? - The other part of the equation for average velocity is displacement, so the computer knows the velocity when measuring time because the photogate is also recording the position of the picket fence and the ﬂag spacing is recorded as well to give accurate results when the the black strips on the picket fence are blocking the red beam. Question 3 . If we want the slope to be the acceleration, which variable, velocity or time, goes on the x-axis? Why? - If we want the slope to measure acceleration then we would need to measure the x-axis using time. This is because the slope is measured as rise over run or y/x and if we want to measure acceleration which is velocity/time; Thus, time would have to be in the denominator.

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