physics 1A lab #1 corrections

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Apr 3, 2024

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Siena College - General Physics 110 Having a “Ball” with Uncertainties Lab NAME: Emily Brooks GROUP MEMBERS: Sylvia, Lisa, AG, Kamini Learning Goals 1. In this lab, you will engage with the ideas of (1) uncertainties in measurements and experiments and (2) data analysis. Equipment: Video of experiment (see link below), a stopwatch and/or timer app. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iuXgpFPnX0 Watch the video of two people (Professor Finn’s children, Caitlin and James) tossing a ball back and forth. Measure the time it takes for the ball to travel from one person to the other and record these times, keeping track of which person is throwing. That is, make one list of times for when Caitlin is throwing the ball, and a separate list of times for when James is throwing the ball. You may use a stopwatch/timer app on your phone to measure the time. Record these times. Your instructors will share a Google Sheet with the class so that everyone can enter their data on their own: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ 1w5NAfE0wE5oXMcoW907Y3yQ7AOil1j2erRAEsoV6kZ0/edit?usp=sharing Your instructors will use the spreadsheet to calculate: ● The average time and standard deviation for the times recorded for each throw. ● The average time and standard deviation for the times recorded by each person. Purpose & Procedures ● Briefly summarize, in your own words, the objective(s) of your experiments. ● Describe your experimental procedures in enough detail that another group could recreate your experiments exactly -- not just do experiments similar to yours. In your detailed procedures, specify precisely how others will know when you started/stopped the time measuring device. In this experiment, our goal was to assess the duration it takes for each individual person to throw a ball. We will do this by measuring the average time in air and standard deviation of each throw. 1

Siena College - General Physics 110 Having a “Ball” with Uncertainties Lab To start, we will watch the youtube video featuring Caitlin and James throwing a ball repetitively. Our objective is to track the time that it takes for Caitlin and James to throw each ball respectively. We will use a stopwatch to measure the time of each throw, which will then be compiled int a class spreadsheet. One for Caitlin and one for James. After the entire class fills out the spreadsheet, the professor will calculate the standard deviation anf the mean of the class’s data which will then be presented in tables. Scientific Ability Missing Inadequate Needs Improvement Adequate B1 Is able to identify the phenomenon to be investigated No phenomenon is mentioned. The description of the phenomenon to be investigated is confusing, or it is not the phenomena of interest. The description of the phenomenon is vague or incomplete. The phenomenon to be investigated is clearly stated. B2 Is able to design a reliable experiment that investigates the phenomenon The experiment does not investigate the phenomenon. The experiment may not yield any interesting patterns. Some important aspects of the phenomenon will not be observable. The experiment might yield interesting patterns relevant to the investigation of the phenomenon. Data Tables ● Record all of the data that only you collected in your experiments in neat, easy to understand tables with units included . ● Take into consideration the number of trials that your group thinks should be run. Scientific Ability Missing Inadequate Needs Improvement Adequate G4 Is able to record and represent data in a meaningful way Data are either absent or incomprehensible. Some important data are absent or incomprehensible. All important data are present, but recorded in a way that requires some effort to comprehend. All important data are present, organized, and recorded clearly. 2

Siena College - General Physics 110 Having a “Ball” with Uncertainties Lab For this experiment, around three tests total would be appropriate. Performing more measurements/tests will increase the accuracy and validate that there is consistency within each throw between James and Caitlin throwing the ball. Graphical Representations ● Include a graph which represents the data from the class as a whole . ● Your instructor will generate graphs that summarize the data for the class as a whole. Discuss these graphs with your lab partners or with the other students at your table. Are they all measuring the same thing? Scientific Ability Missing Inadequate Needs Improvement Adequate A11 Graph No graph is present. A graph is present, but the axes are not labeled. There is no scale on the axes. The data points are incorrectly connected to each other instead of using an appropriate trendline. The graph is present and the axes are labeled, but the axes do not correspond to the independent and dependent variable OR the scale is not accurate. The data points are not connected to each other, but there is no trendline either. The graph has correctly labeled axes, the independent variable is along the horizontal axis and the scale is accurate. The trendline is correct. Figure 1. Caitlin and Jame’s Time measurements (raw data) and the calculated mean and standard deviation. James Graphs 3

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Siena College - General Physics 110 Having a “Ball” with Uncertainties Lab Figure 2. is a bar graph representing the Number of Occurrences vs. Mean Time(s) on the Timer for James’ time-of-flight for the ball. The Y axis represents the number of occurrences and the x axis represents the mean time in seconds that was measured on the timer. Figure 3. represents the number of occurrences vs. time(s) of individual throws of James. Each colored bar presents the frequency of measurements of a specific value of time in the class. The Y axis shows the number of occurrences and the X axis represents the time in seconds of the individual throws measured by the each classmate. Caitlin Graphs Figure 4. is a bar graph representing the Number of Occurrences vs. Mean Time(s) on the Timer for Caitlin’s time-of-flight for the ball. The Y axis represents the number of occurrences and the x axis represents the mean time in seconds that was measured on the timer. 4

Siena College - General Physics 110 Having a “Ball” with Uncertainties Lab Figure 5. represents the number of occurrences vs. time(s) of individual throws of Caitlin. Each colored bar presents the frequency of measurements of a specific value of time in the class. The Y axis shows the number of occurrences and the X axis represents the time in seconds of the individual throws measured by the each classmate. Data Analysis ● What patterns did you notice in the experiments you performed? Reference your data tables and graphs. Between the throws of Caitlin and James, it is apparent that they each had different patterns. To the human eye, it appeared that Caitlin had a consistent pattern of throwing and catching the ball which will keep the ball at the most consistent possible time of flight. James often threw the ball inconsistently with virtually no specific pattern of throwing. This may impact the consistency of the overall throws and may even impact the way that Caitlin catches and throws the ball as a result (figure 5.) shows outliers skewed right that may have been impacted by Jame’s throws shown in (figure 3). ● State the values for the average time and standard deviation for the time recorded by you for each person (Caitlin and James). Figure 1 shows the comparison of standard deviation and average time of flight between Caitlin and James. Caitlin had a standard deviation of 0.2088 and James, 0.2338. Caitlin has a mean time of flight of 1.2854 seconds and James 1.6000 seconds respectively. ● Do your values above seem reasonably close or significantly different in comparison to the averages reported by the class as a whole? How do you know? Our group’s values were very similar to the averages reported to the whole class, we can see this in figure 1. but we can also see the same consistencies in figures 2 through 5. With figures 3 and 5 showing a bell curve of frequencies. The average time measured for Caitlin for our group was 1.28 seconds which is 5

Siena College - General Physics 110 Having a “Ball” with Uncertainties Lab very close to the class average. Our group measured James on the other hand had an average measured time of flight of 1.7 seconds which was much larger than the class average. An explanation for James’ longer average time of flight is his tendency to throw the ball in odd ways that took longer than a conventional throw. Everyone in the class had slightly different averages and standard deviations due to measurement inconsistencies across the class, meaning that each team may have had different ways of measuring time of flight between Caitlin and James. Both standard deviation and mean ● Would you expect every throw to have the same time-of- flight? Would you expect every person in the room to measure the same time-of-flight on any given throw? No, It is likely that different people throwing a ball will each have different throwing technique that will affect their time-of-flight of the ball. Each person may have a small standard deviation of their throws, but from person to person, the time of flight of the ball will vary. ● Is there a difference in asking what is the average time for the throws recorded by one student and what is the average time that all students record for one throw? If so, describe the difference(s). Yes, the average for all throws by one student would be different than the average time of flight for one throw by all the students. Each throw may have been slightly different, especially the throws by James, where he threw the ball differently at some points in the video. It would not be accurate to compare the averages of the class for one throw and the average of all the throws by one student. Each student may have a different way of measurement and judgment of each throw and timing. For example, one student may start a timer when James catches the ball and end when Caitlin catches the ball. Others will measure when james’ throws the ball, and end when Caitlin Catches the ball. The inconsistencies across methods of measurement in the class, will change the average. There was no direction given to the class on how to measure the time of flight, each team decided on their own. ● Do Caitlin and James have the same average time for their throws? Would you expect them to? Explain your thinking. No, it is expected that they would have a different average throwing time because, they may have been throwing the ball at different speeds and have different throwing styles. Depending on how each person threw the ball, will determine how long the ball will travel in the air. The amount of time that the ball remained in each person’s hands will also determine the amount of time 6

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Siena College - General Physics 110 Having a “Ball” with Uncertainties Lab between throws of the ball to the other person. Caitlin had a more consistent with her throws and James was not as consistent with his throws. The mean of time for throws of each person varies and this inconsistency can be easily observed in the youtube video. ● Do Caitlin and James have the same standard deviation in their time for their throws? Would you expect them to? Explain your thinking. Caitlin and James had very similar standard deviations. It was expected that Caitlin and James will have similar standard deviation in their time of flight of the ball because, they are continuously throwing the ball back and forth. It is expected since they each are continuously throwing the ball back and forth, it is likely that each of their throws respectively will have similar standard deviations from their respective means. ● Did all the people in your group get the same average time? Or a better way of asking this question would be, are your answers consistent with one another? Compared to the other groups, our group was consistent with the other group’s findings. We all may have had similar ways of measurement. We can compare our mean time in seconds from figure 1 to figures 2 through 5 to see that our results were quite similar. Majority of our data was within 2 standard deviations of eachother. ● What may have contributed to uncertainties in your measurements? Identify as many sources of experimental uncertainty as you can. Uncertainties may include, the precision of the person timing each throw. The consistency of the time of flight measurement (if the person timing is timing at different point of the throw ie, when the ball is caught or right before the ball leaves the person’s hands). From each student in the class, the way that each person will time may defer from another person measuring. Scientific Ability Missing Inadequate Needs Improvement Adequate B7 Is able to identify a pattern in the data No attempt is made to search for a pattern. The pattern described is irrelevant or inconsistent with the data. The pattern has minor errors or omissions. The pattern represents the relevant trend in the data. G5 Is able to analyze data appropriately No attempt is made to analyze the data. An attempt is made to analyze the data, but it is either seriously flawed or inappropriate. The analysis is appropriate, but it contains minor errors or omissions. The analysis is appropriate, complete, and correct. G1 Is able to identify sources of experimental No attempt is made to identify experimental An attempt is made to identify experimental Most experimental uncertainties are correctly identified. All experimental uncertainties are correctly identified. 7

Siena College - General Physics 110 Having a “Ball” with Uncertainties Lab uncertainty uncertainties. uncertainties, but most are missing, described vaguely, and/or incorrect. However, there is no distinction between random and experimental uncertainty. There is a distinction between experimental uncertainty and random uncertainty. 8

physics 1A lab #1 corrections

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