PHY 101L Module Four Lab Report Gravity

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Dec 6, 2023

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PHY 101L Module Four Lab Report Gravity Name: Emily Donahue Date: 11/14/23 Complete this lab report by replacing the bracketed text with the relevant information. Overview Gravity is the force that pulls everything on or near Earth down toward the center of the Earth. As objects fall, they tend to accelerate in response to gravity. In this investigation, you’ll explore whether the mass and the distance an object falls affect its rate of acceleration. Safety Read all instructions for this laboratory activity before beginning. Follow the instructions closely and observe established laboratory safety practices. Safety goggles should be worn during this lab. The activities in this lab involve dropping spheres that accelerate and bounce. Take care while performing these lab activities to avoid injuring hands, fingers, feet, and toes with moving or falling masses. Make sure the lab area is clear of pets, children, and breakable objects. Do not eat, drink, or chew gum while performing this activity. Wash your hands with soap and water before and after performing the activity. Clean up the work area with soap and water after completing the investigation. Keep pets and children away from lab materials and equipment. Time Requirements Preparation: 15 minutes Experiment: 60 minutes Materials Needed From the Lab Kit Tape measure Steel sphere Acrylic sphere A sphere of similar size as the steel/acrylic sphere made out of clay Pocket scale Materials Needed but Not Supplied in the Lab Kit Stopwatch Calculator Erasable pencil or tape for height markers Procedure 1. Before performing this experiment, develop two scientific hypotheses: a. First hypothesis: how mass will affect the acceleration of the sphere b. Second hypothesis: how height will affect the acceleration of the sphere 2. Document these hypotheses in your response to the first question in your gravity lab report below. Support each of these hypotheses with explanation and reasoning to support your

prediction. 3. Use the tape measure to mark every 0.5 meters on a wall, up to 2.5 meters. This can be done with an erasable pencil mark or a small piece of tape. 4. Select the steel sphere from your kit and measure its mass using the pocket scale. Record the sphere’s mass on the chart below. 5. Using the stopwatch, time each fall as you drop the steel sphere from each of the measured marks, starting at 0.5 m and ending at 2.5 m. For each drop, start the timer upon releasing the sphere. Stop the timer when the sphere hits the ground. Record each fall time on the chart below. Repeat this process two more times for a total of three times at each drop height. Calculate the average fall time for each drop height. 6. Repeat the procedures described in Steps 4 and 5 for the acrylic and clay spheres. 7. Create a graph of height versus average time for your data. Represent time on the x -axis (the horizontal line) and height on the y -axis (the vertical line). 8. For each of the heights, calculate the acceleration of the sphere using the average fall time. The following formula may be helpful, but you’re welcome to use different physics principles if preferred: Height = initial velocity x time + ½ acceleration x time 2 Note that in this experiment, initial velocity is zero, because the sphere is dropped from rest. If we use an initial velocity = 0 and solve for acceleration in terms of height and time, we get: Acceleration = (2 x height)/ time 2 9. Create a graph of acceleration (using the data collected from the height of 2.0 meters for each sphere) and the masses for each of the three spheres. Mass should be represented on the x -axis (the horizontal line) and acceleration should be represented on the y -axis (the vertical line). Data for the steel sphere: Mass = 67.3 g Table 1 Height (m) Time (s) Time (s) Time(s) Avg Time (s) Calculated Acceleration (m/s/s) 0.5 0.22 0.25 0.22 0.23 18.9 1.0 0.35 0.38 0.34 0.36 15.4 1.5 0.56 0.60 0.61 0.59 8.6 2.0 0.68 0.69 0.67 0.68 8.7 2.5 0.90 0.87 0.87 0.88 6.5 Data for the acrylic sphere: Mass = 10.1 g Table 2 Height (m) Time (s) Time (s) Time(s) Avg Time (s) Calculated Acceleration (m/s/s) 0.5 0.23 0.22 0.22 0.22 20.7 1.0 0.36 0.40 0.34 0.37 14.6 1.5 0.54 0.62 0.61 0.59 8.6 2.0 0.70 0.72 0.68 0.70 8.2 2.5 0.87 0.89 0.84 0.87 6.6

Data for the clay sphere: Mass = 20.1 g Table 3 Height (m) Time (s) Time (s) Time(s) Avg Time (s) Calculated Acceleration (m/s/s) 0.5 0.22 0.26 0.21 0.23 18.9 1.0 0.34 0.39 0.34 0.36 15.4 1.5 0.62 0.62 0.56 0.60 8.3 2.0 0.68 0.69 0.68 0.68 8.7 2.5 0.88 0.81 0.88 0.86 6.8 Lab Questions 1. Before performing the experiment, develop two scientific hypotheses about 1) how mass will affect the acceleration of the sphere, and 2) how height will affect the acceleration of the sphere. Be sure to explain your reasoning for each. I do not believe that mass will affect the acceleration of the sphere because all free-falling objects accelerate at the same rate, 9.8 m/s, since gravity is the only external force acting on the object. (NASA, 2022.) I believe that height will decrease the acceleration of the sphere because acceleration is given as (2 * height) / time 2 , and time increases as height increases. This formula shows that as the values for height and time increase, the product, which is acceleration, will decrease. (CK-12, 2023.) 10. Once the experiment is complete, address if your initial hypothesis was correct. Do this for each of the two hypotheses that you have written above. Support your argument with data you collected from the lab. My initial hypothesis that mass does not affect the acceleration of the sphere was correct. This can be observed in the data because the spheres have similar accelerations at 0.5 m. The accelerations are 18.9 m/s 2 for steel, 20.7 m/s 2 for acrylic, and 18.9 m/s 2 for clay. The differences in acceleration values can be attributed to technical and human error. My initial hypothesis that height decreases the acceleration of the sphere was correct. This can be observed in the data because the calculated acceleration for each sphere almost always decreased as height increased. The steel sphere had an acceleration of 18.9 m/s 2 at 0.5 m, 15.4 m/s 2 at 1.0 m, 8.6 m/s 2 at 1.5 m, 8.7 m/s 2 at 2 m, and 6.5 m/s 2 at 2.5 m. The disruptions in this trend can be attributed to technical and human error. 11. In what way does acceleration vary with mass and height? Does this make sense relative to what you understand about the way gravity works? Why or why not? Acceleration does not vary with mass which makes sense relative to what I understand about the

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