P2130701 PHYWE Systeme GmbH & Co.

KG All rights reserved 1

TEP
1.3.07-
01

Free Fall
www.phywe.com
Related Topics
Linear motion due to constant acceleration, laws of falling bodies, gravitational acceleration.
Principle
A sphere falling freely covers certain distances. The falling time is measured and evaluated from dia-
grams. The acceleration due to gravity can be determined.
Equipment
1 Falling sphere apparatus 02502.88
consisting of
1 Release unit 02502.00
1 Impact switch 02503.00
1 Universal counter 13601-99
1 Support base -PASS- 02005.55
2 Right angle clamp -PASS- 02040.55
1 Plate holder 02062.00
1 Cursors, 1 pair 02201.00
1 Meter scale, demo, l =1000 mm 03001.00
1 Support rod-PASS-, square, l =1000 mm 02028.55
2 Connecting cord, l =1000 mm, red 07363.01
2 Connecting cord, l =1000 mm, blue 07363.04

Fig. 1: Set-up of experiment P2130701

2 PHYWE Systeme GmbH & Co. KG All rights reserved P2130701
Free Fall
TEP
1.3.07-
01
Tasks
1. Determine the functional relationship between height of fall and falling time (h =h(t)=1/2 gt
2
).
2. Determine the acceleration due to gravity.
Set-up and procedure
The set up is shown in Fig. 1.
To activate the Timer operating mode on the univer-
sal counter, press the FUNCTION button as often as
necessary for the LED alongside the Timer inscrip-
tion to light up. Use the TRIGGER button to select the
trigger type:

To adjust the pan, use the adjusting screw under the
arrest switch. A downward motion of a few tenths of a
millimetre should close the stop circuit. The pan is
raised by hand after each single measurement (initial
position). For the effective determination of the height
of fall using the marking on the release mechanism,
the radius of the sphere must be taken into account
(diameter 3/4 inch, approx. 19 mm). The aerodynamic
drag of the sphere can be disregarded.
Theory and evaluation
If a body of mass m is accelerated from the state of
rest in a constant gravitational field (gravitational force
, it performs a linear motion. By applying the coor-
dinate system in a way that the x axis indicates the di-
rection of motion and solving the corresponding one-
dimensional equation of motion, we get:

2
()

2
=

We obtain, for the initial conditions
h(0) = 0
(0)
()
= 0

the coordinate h as a function of time (see Fig.2):



The height is directly proportional to the square of time.
This can be displayed by a representation of h(t2) as
shown in Fig.3.

Fig.2: Height of fall as a function of falling time

Fig.3: Height of fall as a function of the square of falling
time
(1) () =
1
2

2


P2130701 PHYWE Systeme GmbH & Co. KG All rights reserved 3
TEP
1.3.07-
01

Free Fall
www.phywe.com
From the regression line of the data, we can calcu-
late the gravitational acceleration because the
slope is equal to 1/2g according to equation (1).
For this measurement, we receive:

g =9.77 m/s
2
. (Theoretical value: 9.81 m/s
2
)


Fig.4 shows the values of the gravitational accele-
ration for different measurements (heights of fall).





Fig.4: Measured values of the gravitational acceleration