I. EXPERIMENT 1.

04: NEWTON’S 2ND LAW

A. Abstract

Two masses are connected by a light string over a pulley. One mass (M ) sits on a fric-
tionless, inclined surface. The other mass (m) hangs vertically. The theoretical predictions
based on Newton’s second law are compared to the experimental measurements.

B. Formulas

X
F~ = m~a (1)
m M sin
a= g (2)
m+M
where the second formula applies to the acceleration of two masses connected by a light
string over a massless, frictionless pulley, one (M ) sits on an inclined, frictionless plane
(inclination angle ) and the other (m) hangs vertically (see Fig. 1 below).

C. Description and Background

FIG. 1. Idealized depiction of the experiment.

This experiment is realized using an air-track which is designed to reduce sliding friction
on a glider. The glider is attached to one end of a light string that runs over a pulley; the
other end of the string is attached to a hanging mass. The glider is released from rest and
ascends as the hanging mass falls.

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 To calculate the theoretical acceleration using Eq. (2), the masses and inclination angle
are required. The masses are determined using an eletronic scale. Once the height, h, of the
prop used to incline the air track is measured, as well as the distance between the track’s
legs, the angle of inclination can be calculated.

FIG. 2. Schematic depiction of the air track set-up.

The experimental determination of the acceleration is based on the speed of the glider at
two locations along the incline and the time interval between these events. Two photogates
are postitioned along the air track (see Fig. 2). They will provide three time interevals: The
glider time through the …rst gate, tA , the glider time through the second gate, tB , and the
glider time in getting from one gate to the other, tAB . The glider has an attached "‡ag" or

FIG. 3. Glider with ‡ag/fence.

"fence" which is just an opaque strip of known length, `F (see Fig. 3). The (average) speeds
can be calculated as follows
`F
vA;B = (3)
tA;B

2
The experimental acceleration is then

vB vA
aexp = (4)
tAB + (tB tA ) =2

where the (tB tA ) =2 term corrects for the fact that vA;B are average speeds and not the
speeds at the gate thresholds.
Although the air track does a decent job of reducing slidding friction, some kinetic friction
survives and a¤ects the acceleration of the glider. The string used is also not always light
enough when compared to the mass of the hanging body. Consequently, the discrepancy
between the theoretical acceleration and the experimental one is a¤ected by this kinetic
friction and the mass of the string. These two e¤ects oppose each other however. Assuming
a truly massless string, if kinetic friction were included in the analysis of the sliding body
on the incline, the following equation for a would result

m M (sin + k cos )
a= g (5)
m+M

By inserting the value of the experimentally determined acceleration (which would tend to
be less than theoretically expected), a value for the e¤ective kinetic-frictional coe¢ cient
could be calculated
1 aexp
k = m (m + M ) sec tan (6)
M g

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 D. Procedure

1. Position the two photogates at two locations, A and B, along the air track.

2. Make sure the photogates are positioned properly so the fence on the glider blocks the
gates’light beams.

3. After releasing the glider, it will pass through the gates, and it will bounce o¤ the end
of the track, so make sure it does not run through the second gate again.

4. Record the three time intervals (A, B, and AB) from the CPO timer. Repeat this
procedure several times.

Nota Bene: The transparent parts of the fence attachement must be free of smudges or
marks that could obstruct the photogate beams after the opaque strip has. An indication
that this may have occurred is an anomalously short time reading for either tA and/or tB .

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E. Measurements

glider mass, M [ gram ]

Time Intervals
Trial tA [ sec ] tB [ sec ] tAB [ sec ]
1
2
3
4
5

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F. Instructions

1. Calculate the average time intervals from the trials and the speeds, vA and vB .

2. Calculate the inclination angle from

h
sin =
L

3. Calculate the speeds and the experimental acceleration of the glider using the results
from the Measurements table and (4), then calculate the average from the trials and
its standard error, aexp .

4. Use Eq. (2) to calculate the theoretical acceleration, atheo , on the incline.

5. Determine the percent di¤erence between atheo and aexp .

6. If your results are such that aexp < atheo then use Eq. (6) to calculate an e¤ective k.

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G. Calculations

trial vA [ m=s ] vB [ m=s ] aexp [ m=s2 ]

[ degrees ]
aexp [ m=s2 ]
aexp [ m=s2 ]
atheo [ m=s2 ]
%-Di¤ (aexp ; atheo )
k