CENTRE OF FOUNDATION STUDIES

FOUNDATION PHYSICS I

LABORATORY REPORT

Experiment Newton Second Law

Name Nachel Willson Silim

Student ID 2022890044
Lab Instructor’s Name Dr. Aida Fazliza Binti Mat Fadzil
Date of Experiment 27 September 2022
Member 1 Roque Ricardinho Richard (2022866214)
Member 2 Muhammad Haikal bin Rahizan (2022865936)
Member 3 Muhammad Arash Jafni bin Mohd Syarizan (2022863359)
Member 4 Rafiq Rahimi bin Rusmaliki (2022863462)
Member 5 Farihin Danish bin Mohd Firdaus (2022861152)

Marks

Comment
 ABSTRACT
The purpose of this experiment is to determine the value of gravitational force acceleration,
g by applying Newton’s Second Law. First, we determined the mass of the objects and
attached it to a collision cart by using a string . From this experiment, we can concluded that
the gravitational force acceleration is 28.79468 m/s2.

INTRODUCTION
Isaac Newton or in full, Sir Isaac Newton born in December 25, 1642 is an English
mathematician and physicist, who was an important figure in Scientific Revolution of the 17th
century. In mechanics, Sir Isaac Newtown managed to discover the three laws of motion,
which is the basic principles of physics, and resulted in the formulation of the law of the
universe.

According to Newton’s Second Law, the acceleration produced by particular force acting on
a body is directly proportional to the magnitude of the force and inversely proportional to the
mass of the body. These observations give the equation:

Where F representing force, m representing the object’s mass and a representing the object’s
acceleration.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the value of gravitational acceleration, g by applying Newton’s Second Law.
 APPARATUS
Smart timer, collision cart with mass, dynamic cart track, photogate, string, pulley, hanger.

METHODOLOGY

The apparatus was set up as shown in Figure 1. The photogates was placed and
distanced by 40 cm from each other. The mass of the collision cart and the hanger were
weighed. A mass of 25g from the collision cart was transferred to the hanger. The time
taken for the collision cart to pass through from photogate 1 to photogate 2 measured by
the smart timer was recorded in the table of data. The steps were repeated by transferring
50g, 75g, 100g and 125g from the collision cart to the hanger. The acceleration of the
collision cart was calculated by using the formula:

Δx = V0t + at2
 RESULT

Mass1, ( Total Mass, Displacement, Time1, Time2, Average t, Acceleration,

Mass2, ( (x) (m) (t1) (s) (t2) (s) (a) (m/s2)
1) (kg) 2) (kg) ( 1+ 2) (s)
(kg)

0.352 0.025 0.377 0.4 0.5995 0.5529 0.57615 2.411001

0.327 0.050 0.377 0.4 0.4314 0.4005 0.41595 4.62389

0.285 0.075 0.377 0.4 0.3508 0.3652 0.35800 6.24200

0.260 0.100 0.377 0.4 0.3093 0.2960 0.30265 8.73391

0.252 0.125 0.377 0.4 0.2885 0.2760 0.28225 10.04204

 ANALYSIS

Acceleration: the rate of change of velocity of the cart

Δx = V0t + at2

a=

a=

a = 2.41 m/s2

Uncertainty of acceleration (Δa)

Δa =

Δa = ( )(2.41m/s2)

Δa = m/s2
ANALYSIS (GRAPH)
Centroid
∑𝑁
𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖
𝑥̅ =
𝑁

0.06631 + 0.13263 + 0.20833 + 0.27778 + 0.33156

𝑥̅ =
5
=0.203322
∑𝑁
𝑖=1 𝑦𝑖
𝑦̅ =
𝑁

2.41001 + 4.62389 + 6.24200 + 8.73391 + 10.04204

𝑦̅ =
5
= 6.41037
Gradient
10.04204 − 2.41001
𝑚=
0.333156 − 0.06631
=27.7729689
≈ 28m/𝑠 2
6.4 − (−1)
𝑚1 =
0.2 − 0
= 37 m/𝑠 2
6.4 − 2
𝑚2 =
0.2 − 0
= 22 m/𝑠 2

Error from the graph

1
∆𝑚 = 2(𝑚1 − 𝑚2 )

1
∆𝑚 = ± (37 − 22)
2
=± 7.5 m/𝑠 2
Slope of graph = 28±7.5
Fractional uncertainty

7.5
× 100 = 26.79%
28
 DISCUSSION
In this experiment, a collision cart (m1) was put into the dynamic cart track with a hanging
mass (m2) attached to it with a light string. The time and acceleration of the cart to move
from the first to the final point were taken with a smart timer and photogate. The first mass
of m2 was 0.025 kg. Then, the procedure was repeated with different mass of m2 which was
0.050 kg, 0.075 kg, 0.100 kg and 0.125 kg.

According to Newton’s Second Law, the acceleration produced by particular force acting on
a body is directly proportional to the magnitude of the force and inversely proportional to the
mass of the body. The particular force that is acting on the body in this experiment is the
gravitational force. Below is the formula and equations used in this experiment.

The formula for the total mass for both objects is:

m1 + m2 = m(total)

The equation for the tension in the horizontal motion is:

Fnet,1 = m1g − T = m1a

The equation for the tension in the vertical motion is:

Fnet,2x = T − f = m2a

These equations could be combined to form another equation.

m1g = (m1 + m2)a + f

The gravitational acceleration could be found by rearranging the equation above.

a = g(m2/m1+m2) – f

Newton’s Second Law stated that the acceleration produced by particular force acting on a
body is directly proportional to the magnitude of the force. The bigger the magnitude of the
force, the bigger the acceleration acting on the body. Meanwhile, the law also stated that the
acceleration produced by particular force acting on a body is inversely proportional to the
mass of the body. The bigger the mass of the body, the smaller the acceleration.

In this experiment, the gravitational acceleration acting on the collision cart is influenced by
the magnitude of the gravitational force and the hanging mass. A comparison could be make
between the first measurement and the fifth measurement to see how the two factors
affected the gravitational acceleration. (Refer to Results Table)

During the first measurement, the hanging mass is 0.025 kg while the mass of the collision
cart is 0.352 kg. The gravitational acceleration acquired in the first measurement is 2.41001
m/s2. During the fifth measurement, the hanging mass is 0.125 kg while the mass of the
collision cart is 0.252 kg. The gravitational acceleration acquired in the fifth measurement is
10.04204 m/s2.

This data proven that the gravitational acceleration is indeed directly proportional with the
gravitational force (hanging mass) and inversely proportional to the mass of the collision cart.

Based on the collected data, the total mass for m1 and m2 each attempt is remaining the
same which is 0.377kg. Same goes for the displacement which also remain the same which is
0.4m. Still, the average, t each of the attempt is different and so for the acceleration as well.
This is because it is not all about the total mass for both object but in fact the mass of the
object itself. As we can see from the data for attempt 1, the mass 1 is 0.352kg whilst mass2 is
0.025kg. The resultant of time average for this attempt is 0.57615s while the total of
acceleration it made is 2.41001m/s-2. As for the attempt 2, the mass1 is 0.327kg whilst mass2
is 0.050kg. The resultant of time average for this attempt is 0.41595s and the total of
acceleration it made is 4.62389m/s-2. For attempt 3, the mass1 is 0.285kg whilst mass2 is
0.075kg. The resultant of time average for this attempt is 0.335800 and the total acceleration
it made is 6.24200m/s-2. By only looking at these three attempts we already know how the
resultant of time average, t and acceleration affect each other. This is because of the mass1
and mass2 is different with sequence down the table for each attempt but still the total mass
for both objects is remaining the same. If we are decreasing the mass 1 whilst increasing the
mass2 in every attempt with sequences, the time average will also decrease down the table
whilst the acceleration is increasing down the table.

The decreasing time average down the table is because the mass2 mass is increasing. If we
increase the mass2 which is the y-axis, the amount of time needed to reach the floor is shorter.
If the time needed to reach at the floor that is mean the acceleration of the object is also
increasing.

The source of error in this part of experiment is due to measuring the weigh by using the
weighing scale. This is mostly because of the unknown wind all over the place. Even a little
wind can affect the amount of mass measured. That’s why we need to make sure the fan is
off as it is the main source of wind. Make sure there is no window wide open. Other than that,
the censor is also can be the source of error in this part of the experiment. This is because
sometime the infrared censored cannot detect the object right away which is maybe could be
delay for a while. The censored could not detect if the car which is the object of mass1 is too
far. At this point, we need to adjust the length between infrared censored and the car. Thus,
this systematic error due to parallax should be minimal as it will affect to the resultant of time
average and the acceleration.

From the Newton’s second law of motion experiment that we have conducted the result
obtained leads to graph of acceleration against m2/m1+m2 shows a straight line which means
the graph is linear and achieves the best fit line. The graph also shows when the mass
m2/m1+m2 increases the acceleration increases, thus the acceleration is directly proportional
to m2/m1+m2. From the graph we can interpret the value of gradient by calculating the area
under the graph. The value of gradient obtained is 27.7729689which indicates the value of g.

CONCLUSION
The value of gravitational acceleration can be determined by applying Newton’s Second Law

(F=ma) and mathematical solutions by plotting graph of acceleration, a against The

2
value of gravitational acceleration obtained from this experiment was 27.7729689 m/s .
 REFERENCES
Serway, R. A., & Vuille, C. (2018). College Physics, Eleventh Edition. Cengage Learning.

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/newtlaws/Lesson-3/Newton-s-Second-Law

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/physics/forces-newtons-laws/newtons-laws-of-
motion/a/what-is-newtons-second-law
 APPENDICES

POST-LAB QUESTIONS

1. Using the gravitational force acceleration value g, determine how long does it take to travel
from UiTM Dengkil to IOI City Mall?

a=

28.79468 =

v = 16.59 m/s

t = 18.79 min

2. If the track used in this experiment is frictionless, how the experimental value of the
gravitational acceleration g will be affected?

The value of gravitational acceleration g will increase.

3. What is the difference between the cart’s acceleration a and the gravitational acceleration
g obtained in this experiment?

The cart’s acceleration is due to the pulling of the object that was attached to it while the
gravitational acceleration is the acceleration of the object because of gravity.
4. Do you think a gravitational force could attract light? Give an example to support your
answer.

Yes. For example, a blackhole is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light
can not get out. The gravity is so strong because matter has been squeezed into a tiny space.

4. If an object has no acceleration, can you conclude that no forces are exerted on it? Explain.

No. If an object has no acceleration exerted on it, then the velocity does not change from one
time to the next, resulting in no net acceleration. From Newton’s Second Law, we can
conclude that if there is no net acceleration, then there is no force exerted on an object.