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Physics Experiment Report Example

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Physics Experiment Report Example

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Physics Experiment Report Example

The following pages contain a sample experiment report for an experiment (not one in
this course—for example purposes only) where the water level in a 2-liter soda bottle
changes as more and more water is added. It is slightly more brief and less well-
developed than your experiment reports are expected to be (except in the area of
Uncertainty, which is more robust than you may be able to produce), however, it
provides a sense of what type of information is expected in each section.
Note: This Experiment Report example has been edited to follow the Experiment Report
requirements of the PHYS 102 class. Certain headings and sections were removed
(including Method, Materials List, Raw Data table, and Data Analysis) due to the virtual
nature of the experiment simulations, and the desire to focus on the experiment results
and student conclusions.

This experiment example below is designed to correlate the volume of the water
contained within the bottle to the height of the water in that bottle. (Again, this
experiment does not exist in the PHYS 102 course and is used for example purposes
only.)

Name: Stuart (Stu) Dent


Title: Soda Bottle Experiment
Hypothesis: Given that a soda bottle roughly resembles a cylinder, a linear
relationship is expected between the height of the water and the amount of water
(volume) poured into it.
Or
Given that a soda bottle roughly resembles a cylinder, the more water poured into the
bottle, the higher the water level will be.
Overview: To test for a linear relationship between volume and height in the cylinder
(bottle), the height of the water is measured after successive, equal amounts of water
are added to the cylinder (bottle). A best line fit in a Volume-height (V-h) diagram will be
used to determine if the relationship is linear.
Procedure: See Experiment Instructions
Raw Data: See Experiment data sheet(s)
Uncertainty & Error:
Uncertainty:
We were able to measure the volume with a precision of ±25mL and the water level with
a precision of ±0.5cm.
Major Sources of Error:
Systematic:
 In particular, at the lower and upper end of the bottle we have indentions that
make the shape of the bottle deviate from a cylindrical shape. This should
overall shift the curve upwards. (Can be avoided by only measuring the height
gain for the middle part of the bottle.)
 Ruler held at an angle. This will result in an over-estimate of h. (Can be
avoided by holding ruler perpendicular.)
 Residual water in the bottle. This will again shift the entire curve upwards.
(Can be avoided by having the bottle carefully dried.)
 Bubbles in the water. This will result in an overestimation of the volume.
(Effect can be reduced by letting water sit before measurements).
Random:
 Change in temperature in water (thermal expansion).
 Misreading the ruler.
Summary: The expectation of a linear relationship between volume and height seems
correct. The measured heights of the water in the bottle as the volume of water
increased fell along a straight line in the V-h graph, very well supporting this notion. The
fact that the intercept is non-zero (as would be expected) can be accounted for by the
indentations at the lower end of the bottle. This error is based on the fact that the bottle
is not a true cylinder. Additional errors may have been introduced by incorrect
measurement readings or other aspects relating to the temperature of the water or
fluctuations in volume. The slope has little physical meaning, except that it is
proportional to the average area of the bottle. Future iterations of this experiment might
benefit from ensuring the experiment is conducted in a constant temperature
environment, the water is room temperature, and the bottle has a flat bottom and is
closer to the shape of a true cylinder.

Application: This experiment shows the connection between volume and height,
providing some insight for manufacturers to estimate how much liquid could be held in
cylindrical containers, whether they be water bottles or giant beer vats. An alternate
view could be that the set height of fluid in a cylindrical container would tell the
manufacturer how much liquid is in the container. The use of height sensors could be
used as quality control for bottling plants.

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