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May 21, 2024

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Honors: Applying Planetary Laws Lab Report Introduction: Gravity is the force of attraction that pulls objects toward the center of Earth and holds the moon in orbit around Earth. Galileo was interested in understanding gravity. He assumed all objects are subject to the same acceleration due to gravity. To test the idea, Galileo devised an experiment. He would drop objects from a tall tower to test his hypothesis. The objective of this lab is to determine if objects with different masses fall at the same rate or varying rates in the presence of air and a vacuum. Problem: What effect does Earth's gravitational force have on objects of different masses? Hypothesis: For your hypothesis, predict what will happen to the acceleration of objects in normal mode and vacuum mode. For example: ● If I drop two objects in normal mode, their acceleration to the ground will differ. ● If I drop two objects in vacuum mode, their acceleration to the ground will remain the same. Materials: ● Gravity virtual lab activity Procedures: 1. Familiarize yourself with the virtual lab activity. 2. Using the virtual activity, choose two objects from the upper left-hand corner (the feather, giant ball, and small ball). 3. Select your objects, place them on Galileo’s hands, and select “DROP.” Record your observations in Table 1. 4. Repeat three times with different combinations. 5. Select the “VACUUM MODE” and repeat steps 2 through 4 with the objects you used in trials one through three. 6. Record your observations in Table 1 . 7. Complete the Questions and Conclusion section of the lab report. Variables: For this investigation, list the independent, dependent, and controlled variables. Independent Normal/vacuum mode Dependent The acceleration of the objects Controlled Same objects are used Unless Otherwise Noted All Content © 2023 Florida Virtual School. FlexPoint Education Cloud™ is a trademark of Florida Virtual School.

Data and Observations: Table 1: Gravity Test Trials Trial Objects Used Observations - Normal Mode Observations - Vacuum Mode 1 Small and big ball They fell the same time and reached the ground the same and were fast. They still fell the same but slower. 2 Small ball and feather The feather fell extremely slow compared to the small ball and the small ball reached the ground first. They were falling at the same rate of speed, and both touched the ground at the same time. 3 Big ball and feather The big ball reached the ground first and was faster than the feather. They fell at the same rate and reached the ground at the same rate. Questions and Conclusion: 1. What force(s) were acting on the objects dropped in the air (normal mode)? What force(s) was acting on the objects dropped in the vacuum? Gravity and mass were acting on the objects in normal mode; however, there is no gravity in space unless it’s in a specific area hence why it is referred to as a vacuum, so in vacuum mode gravity was not a force and mass was not accounted for because two different objects fell at the same acceleration. 2. Why was there a difference between the normal and vacuum modes? One had gravitational force the other did not. 3. Explain how objects on Earth accelerate compared to objects in the vacuum of space. Be sure to use Newton’s laws of motion to support your explanations. They would accelerate differently because according to Newton’s first law, objects in motion will remain in motion or objects at rest will remain at rest unless they are tampered with by other forces. Earth has many outside forces that tamper with objects due to the mass and gravity on Earth; however, in space, gravitational force does not occur everywhere meaning that the mass of an object will not affect its acceleration. According to Newton’s second law, a force requires mass and acceleration to occur, but without gravity and mass, the acceleration will remain the same for every object in space but will differ in Earth. 4. The gravitational pull of Jupiter is greater than the gravitational pull of Earth. How would adding a “JUPITER MODE” to the virtual activity change the results of Galileo’s experiment? The items would most likely fall even faster since their pull towards Jupiter would be more extreme. 5. How did your hypotheses match your observations of falling objects in the air and a vacuum? They matched because they were proved correct when I assumed that it would differ in normal mode but not in vacuum mode. 6. Describe other ways you could investigate the acceleration of objects due to gravity. Record footage and analyze it, Unless Otherwise Noted All Content © 2023 Florida Virtual School. FlexPoint Education Cloud™ is a trademark of Florida Virtual School.

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