Newton’s Laws of Motion

OBJECTIVES
• to validate Newton’s Laws of Motion

EQUIPMENT
horizontal dynamic track and safety stopper on one end

PASCO carts with a small reflector

motion detector connected to the Science Workshop Interface

lab stand

balance

two force sensors

INTRODUCTION AND THEORY

Newton’s Laws are the essential part of Dynamics — the area of physics that studies the cause
of motion experienced by an object. The interaction between objects is measured by a physical
quantity — force. A force is a vector quantity and it can be presented as an arrow. The arrow
shows the direction in which the force is being applied, and the length of the arrow shows the
magnitude (size) of the force. The two types of forces are contact forces and field forces. Examples
of contact forces are friction force, normal force, and tension force. Examples of field forces are
gravity force and electromagnetic force. Usually there is more than one force applied to an object.

To predict the type of motion an object will experience due to forces acting on it, a net force
needs to be calculated. A net force is a vector sum of all the forces that act on the object.
Newton’s First Law states that an object will be at rest or will maintain constant velocity
motion until a non-zero net external force acts on it. In other words, if the vector sum of all
the forces applied to an object (or net force) is zero, the object stays at rest or is moving with
constant velocity. The system of reference where this fact holds true is called an inertial system
of reference.

If the forces are not balanced (which means a net force does not equal zero), the object will
move with constant acceleration, which will be directly proportional to the net force and inversely
proportional to an object’s mass. Newton’s Second Law of motion can be summarized by the
following equation:

ΣF
a= , (1)
m

where ΣF represents a net external force acting on an object, m is the mass of the object moving
under the influence of ΣF, and a is the acceleration of that object. ΣF and a are vector quantities

c 2012 Advanced Instructional Systems Inc. and Arizona State University Department of Physics 1
while m — mass — is a scalar quantity. If ΣF = 0, then a = 0, and the object moves at constant
velocity as it stated in Newton’s First Law.

Newton’s Third Law establishes the connection between the action-reaction pair of forces. If
two objects collide with each other, then the force of the action will be equal to the force of reaction
in magnitude but opposite in direction.

In this lab, you will validate these laws using a force sensor, a motion sensor, and a cart (carts)
moving along a horizontal aluminum track.

PROCEDURE
Please print the worksheet for this lab. You will need this sheet to record your data.

Experiment 1 - Newton’s First Law

1 Open the pre-set experiment file “Newton’s First Law” located in the “pirt inst labs”- phy 113
folder — PreSetUp Labs.

Figure 1

2 Take one of the force sensors. Hang the sensor from the provided lab stand. Connect the force
sensor to Channel A of the PASCO Interface. Calibrate the force sensor to take measurements.

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Force Sensor Calibration

With the force sensor hanging vertically, do the following.

• In the DataStudio R program, open “Setup”. Choose “Calibrate Sensor”. The Cal-
ibration window will open. Check that “2-point Calibration” is marked. Set the
Standard value of Calibration point 1 to be equal to zero. With nothing hanging
on the sensor, press the “Tare” button on the force sensor itself. Select “Read from
Sensor” in DataStudio R .

• Set the Standard value of Calibration point 2 to be equal to 9.81 N. Select “Read
from Sensor” in Data Studio. Click Ok. Close Experiment Setup Window.

Check your calibration by taking 5 seconds of data with the 1.00 kg mass hanging from the
sensor. You should see the line with a zero slope at 9.81 N. Continue the experiment if the
sensor calibrated correctly.

3 Remove the force sensor from the stand and hold it vertically with your hand. Attach the mass
hanger with a 500-g mass on it to the force sensor. Press the “Start” button. Hold the force
sensor still. Collect data for 5 seconds.

4 Use the “Statistics” option to determine the mean value of the force while the mass is being
held stationary. Report the mean value of the force (Tension) measured by the force sensor in
the Experiment 1 portion of the Lab 4 Worksheet.

5 Calculate the force of gravity acting on the hanger and hanging mass. Report it in the Exper-
iment 1 portion of the Lab 4 Worksheet.

6 In your lab report, you will need to find the net force acting on the hanging mass and explain
how the obtained data proves Newton’s First Law.

7 Draw the force diagram of the experiment on the Lab 4 Worksheet.

CHECKPOINT : Check with your TA to see if your drawing is correct. Have your TA
check the value of the net force and discuss the way you found it.

8 Upload the file with your graphs. Do a print screen and save the graphs as a file with a
maximum size of 1 MB. (You will upload this file in the WebAssign question.) Print the graph
for your TA to sign, and for your reference.

9 Close the pre-set experiment file “Newton’s First Law”. Put the hanger and 500-g mass away.

Experiment 2 - Newton’s Second Law

In this experiment, you will investigate the relationships of acceleration to net force.

1 Place the track on the table. Put a PASCO cart on the track. To calibrate the sensor, open
\Setup. Choose \Calibrate Sensor. The Calibration window will open. Check that \2-point

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 Calibration is marked. Set the Standard value of Calibration point 1 to be equal to +50N. If
the force sensor is calibrated, screw it to the top of the PASCO cart. Place the screw in the
socket marked “cart”. Place the lab stand with a motion sensor on it at the end of the track
next to the PASCO Interface. Connect the yellow jack to Channel 1 and the black jack to
Channel 2. Attach a black carton reflector to the end of the cart facing motion sensor.

To take measurements, you will need to hold the hook of the force sensor with your hand and
make the cart move in a random fashion back and forth along the track.

2 Check that the track is leveled. To obtain good data, remember that the motion sensor cannot
accurately detect objects that are closer than 0.15 m. Be sure to keep the cart farther away
than this distance.

Figure 2

3 When the cart sits still, press the “Tare” button on the force sensor. You should press the
“Tare” button prior to each measurement.

4 Open the pre-set experiment file “Newton’s Second Law” located in the “pirt inst labs”- phy
113 folder — PreSetUp Labs.

5 Click the “Start” button to begin collecting data. You should see a zero force reading. Holding
the hook of the force sensor with your hand, make the cart move back and forth along the
time the track for a 15-seconds time interval. You can vary the magnitude of the force you

c 2012 Advanced Instructional Systems Inc. and Arizona State University Department of Physics 4
 apply during this run. Click stop after a 15-second time interval has passed. You should see
the force vs time and acceleration vs time graph produced in the DataStudio R .

6 Open Graphical Analysis (GA). Copy both of the experimental data (acceleration vs time; force
vs time) between the 2s - 15s time intervals from DataStudio R into Graphical Analysis.

Hint: Click and hold the left button of the mouse to select data in the needed ranges. Use
CTRL+C to copy the highlighted data. Use CTRL+V to paste data into GA. You should
have 4 columns of data after you complete this step.

7 Name the columns in GA so they correspond to the copied data. Make appropriate adjustments
to be sure that the pasted time intervals of acceleration and force are the same.

8 Chose acceleration and force as two variables on the y-axis, and time as a variable on the x -axis.
In your lab report, you will have to discuss if the change in acceleration resembles the change
in force within the selected time interval.

9 Insert new graph. (Hint: Insert — Graph). The graph is acceleration vs force. Apply linear
fit. Record the slope of the graph and its uncertainty in Data Table 2 of the Lab 4 Worksheet.
Discuss with your TA the relationship between the acceleration and the net force, as well as
the relationship between the slope of the graph and the mass of the moving system. In the
lab report, you will need to calculate the experimental mass (m exp ) of the moving system
(cart+force sensor) and compare it (calculate the percent discrepancy) with the theoretical
mass (m theor ). Use the balance to measure the theoretical mass (m theor ) of the cart+force
sensor.

10 Upload the file with your graphs. Do a print screen and save the graphs as a file with a
maximum size of 1 MB. (You will upload this file in the WebAssign question.) Print the graph
for your TA to sign, and for your reference.

11 Close pre-set experiment file “Newton’s Second Law”. Put the motion sensor away.

Experiment 3 - Newton’s Third Law

In this experiment, you will compare the magnitudes and direction of forces acting on two inter-
acting carts.

1 Take the second force sensor and attach it on top of the second cart. Connect it to the
channel B. Open the pre-set experiment file “3rd Law Tug-O-War Data” located in the in the
“pirt inst labs”- phy 113 folder — PreSetUp Labs. Connect two force sensors with a string.

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 Figure 3

2 Click the “Start” button to begin collecting data. One person holds one cart still. A second
person tugs on the other cart along the track. (Hint: the experiment should resemble a small-
scale game of a tug-o-war with neither person winning). End data collection after 5 seconds.

3 Record the value of the forces (force of force sensor A on force sensor B; force sensor B on force
sensor A) in Data Table 1 of the the Lab 4 Worksheet Lab. In the lab report, you will need to
discuss the graphs forces vs time produced in the experiment.

4 Upload the file with your graphs. Do a print screen and save the graphs as a file with a
maximum size of 1 MB. (You will upload this file in the WebAssign question.) Print the graph
for your TA to sign, and for your reference.

5 Close the pre-set experiment file “3rd Law Tug-O-War Data”.

6 Replace the hooks on both force sensors with the springs.

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 Figure 4

7 Open the pre-set experiment file “3rd Law Collision” located in the in the “pirt inst labs”- phy
113 folder — PreSetUp Labs.

8 With nothing connected to the Force Sensors, press the “TARE” buttons on the Force Sensors.
Click “Start”. Place the second cart in the middle of the track and add additional mass. Push
the first cart towards the second one. Stop recording after the collision. Record the value of
the forces (force of the cart A on the on the cart B; force of the cart B on the cart A) in Data
Table 1 in the Lab 4 Worksheet. In the lab report, you will need to discuss the graphs forces
vs time produced in the experiment.

9 Repeat step 8 by making the carts move towards each other. Record the data. In the lab
report, you will need to explain how the data in this experiment proves Newton’s Third Law.

10 Upload the file with your graphs. Do a print screen and save the graphs as a file with a
maximum size of 1 MB. (You will upload this file in the WebAssign question.) Print the graph
for your TA to sign, and for your reference.

11 Close the pre-set experiment file “3rd Law Collision”. Bring the lab station to the original
condition. Complete the InLab on the WebAssign.

DISCUSSION
Start your discussion with the statement of the purpose of the lab experiment, then provide a
brief theoretical explanation about your expected results. Report your experimental results with
their errors for all parts of the lab. Discuss if the theoretical results fit the experimental results
within the error. How many significant figures are used to report the results? Why?

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 How do the results of Experiment 1 prove Newton’s First Law? In Experiment 2, how does
the change in acceleration resemble the change in force within the selected time interval? What
is the experimental relationship between acceleration and net force in Experiment 2? What is the
percent discrepancy between the theoretical and experimental mass? What is the relative error in
the experimental mass? Do the experimental mass and theoretical mass agree within the error?
Are the experimental results accurate/precise? Do your results prove Newton’s Second Law? How
does the data in Experiment 3 prove Newton’s Third Law? If a large vehicle collides with a small
ball, which object experiences the greater force?

CONCLUSION
Have you met the objective of the lab?

c 2012 Advanced Instructional Systems Inc. and Arizona State University Department of Physics 8