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Free Fall

The lab focuses on measuring the acceleration of an object in free fall, aiming to demonstrate that it equals the acceleration due to gravity, typically 9.8 m/s². Students will measure displacement, compute average velocity, and analyze the uniformity of acceleration under ideal conditions. The experiment includes data collection, graphing results, and discussing the application of Newton's laws of motion.

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3 views2 pages

Free Fall

The lab focuses on measuring the acceleration of an object in free fall, aiming to demonstrate that it equals the acceleration due to gravity, typically 9.8 m/s². Students will measure displacement, compute average velocity, and analyze the uniformity of acceleration under ideal conditions. The experiment includes data collection, graphing results, and discussing the application of Newton's laws of motion.

Uploaded by

Shahbaz
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Department of Mathematics & Natural Sciences

PHYS 110 Physics I Laboratory

Free Fall

Introduction
In this lab, you will measure an object's acceleration as it falls towards the earth's surface. Air
resistance should not be a factor; hence the object's acceleration should be equal to the
acceleration caused by gravity. The value of g varies by location, with lower elevations having a
higher value, but the average value is commonly regarded as 9.8m/𝑠 2 (980cm/𝑠 2 ).

Objectives
Acceleration refers to the pace at which an object's velocity changes over time. Newton's
second law states that an object's acceleration equals the sum of all forces acting on it. Under
ideal conditions, gravity is the only force acting on a free-falling object. In this lab, you will
measure the displacement of a freely falling object, compute the average velocity of a falling
object at predetermined time intervals, and calculate the object's acceleration owing to gravity.
The experiment's objectives are as follows:
1. Measure the displacement of a freely falling object.

2. To investigate if the acceleration of a freely falling object is uniform.

3. To calculate the uniform acceleration of a falling object due to gravity, g.


Theory
The instant when the ball is released is considered the initial time t =0. The variable y describes
the position of the ball along the ruler. The position of the ball at a time t is given by:
1
𝑦(𝑡) = 𝑦0 + 𝑣0 𝑡 + 2 𝑔𝑡 2 (1)

If the ball is released from rest, the initial velocity is zero: 𝑣0 =0. Therefore,
1
𝑦(𝑡) = 𝑦0 + 𝑔𝑡 2 . (2)
2

Part I: Data
Fill the measurements in the table below

# Height (m) Time (s) Calculated gravity (m/s2)

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑒 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 =

Part II: Discussion Questions

1. Sketch a graph of height vs. time for the motion of the object.

2. How does the theory of free fall (based on Newton's laws of motion and the law of

universal gravitation) apply to this experiment?

3. How was the data graphed or otherwise represented to highlight key findings?

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