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Physics - Project Free Fall

Proyecto de calculo de valor de gravedad

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37 views6 pages

Physics - Project Free Fall

Proyecto de calculo de valor de gravedad

Uploaded by

kevin.hintze.cchsl
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Sunday October 13th 2024

Physics: Mechanics I

Physics: Project 19th September

Josemaría Arredondo Guevara &


Diego García Rojo - 11º
1. Summary:

The free fall experiment aimed to observe the time it takes for a sponge ball to fall from

varying heights and to calculate the object’s acceleration using the recorded time

information. The setup was simple: a simple sponge ball was dropped from three different

heights (160 cm, 150 cm, and 140 cm), and the fall time was measured for each attempt. By

applying the acceleration formula and analyzing the time values, the experiment allowed us to

explore the principles of motion under gravitational influence without air resistance.

2. Introduction:

Free fall is the motion of an object where gravity is the only force acting upon it, assuming

air resistance is negligible (Britannica, 1998). In this experiment, we examined the relationship

between the height of release and the time it takes for a sponge ball to reach the ground.

According to classical mechanics, the acceleration of an object in free fall near the Earth’s

surface basically should be approximately 9.81 m/s^2. This experiment allows us to calculate

the acceleration based on the recorded fall times and to confirm whether our results align with

this theoretical value.

3. Hypothesis:
The acceleration of the falling sponge ball will approach the value of 9.81 m/s^2 regardless of

the initial height, as gravity remains constant. The fall time should increase slightly as the height

increases, but the overall acceleration will remain close to the expected theoretical value.

4. Materials & Methodology:

Materials:

● Sponge Ball

● Measuring tape (for the height)

● Chronometer

● Height markers (at 160 cm, 150 cm and 140 cm)

Methodology:

1. The sponge ball was dropped from a height of 160 cm, and the fall time was recorded for

5 trials.

2. The same process was repeated from a height of 150 cm and 140 cm, again with 5 trials

each.
3. For each set of heights, the times were averaged, and using the formula h = ½ at^2

(substituting it to gather the acceleration ) the acceleration was calculated for each

attempt.

5. Results

Height Time (sec) Time (sec) Time (sec) Time (sec) Time (sec) Average

(cm) Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 Trial 5 Time (sec)

160 0.59 0.57 0.55 0.60 0.62 0.586

150 0.56 0.55 0.57 0.56 0.59 0.566

140 0.54 0.55 0.54 0.53 0.57 0.546

6. Substitutions

Using the formula for acceleration:

a = 2h/t^2

Where h is the height and t is the average time.

For 160 cm (1.60 m):

a = 2(1.60)/(0.586)^2 = 9.33 m/s^2

For 150 cm (1.50 m):


a = 2(1.50)/(0.566)^2 = 9.35 m/s^2

For 140 cm (1.40 m):

a = 2(1.40)/(0.546)^2 = 9.39 m/s^2

7. Discussion and Conclusion

Discussing this experiment, we calculated the acceleration of a sponge ball in free fall from

different heights. The results show that the acceleration remains close to the expected 9.81 m/s2,

with minor variations likely due to experimental inaccuracies, such as human reaction time when

using the chronometer.

Despite the simplicity of the setup, the results align with the theory that objects in free fall near

the Earth’s surface experience a constant acceleration due to gravity. Differences in the

acceleration values (ranging from 9.33 m/s^2 to 9.39 m/s^2) can be attributed to minor timing

errors, not exactly timing and potential air conditions, although the latter was not a significant

factor due to the small mass and surface area of the sponge ballon no problem.

Further refinements, such as using a more precise timing method, could reduce these

discrepancies. However, the experiment successfully demonstrates the basic principles of free

fall and gravitational acceleration.


8. Word Count: 637

9. References:

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (1998, 20 julio). Free fall | Definition, Examples, &

Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. [Accessed on October 13th] Available at:

https://www.britannica.com/science/freefall-physics

Introduction to Free Fall Motion. (s. f.). [Accessed on October 13th] Available at:

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/1dkin/u1l5a.cfm

*and of course the evidence of the experiment is on the google drive folder, (they are

videos).

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