E.

5 - NEWTON'S SECOND LAW

Newton's second law describes the relationship between the net force applied to a body, its mass, and the resulting acceleration of the body. In this experiment you are to "discover" the relationships between these quantities and use your experimental results to deduce the mathematical form of Newton's second law. The experiment is divided into two parts. In Part I you will determine how the acceleration of an object varies with the force applied while keeping the mass of the object constant. In Part II you will determine how the acceleration varies with the mass of the object being accelerated when the force applied is constant. Part I - The Relationship Between the Acceleration of a Body and the Applied Force
Photo-gate Timer Photo-gate

Cart D Air Track Vary Number of Washers

Part I

As demonstrated in class, use an accelerating force supplied by 10g, 15g, 20g, 25g, 30g, and 35g to accelerate the track cart. With the cart starting from rest, determine the time required for the cart to travel through a measured distance using the photo-gate timer. For each value of the force, measure the time required for the cart to move through the known distance four times. Before coming to class prepare a data table for Part I. Include columns for the applied force, the four times for each value of the force, the average of the four times, the distance traveled by the cart, and the calculated acceleration. Record your data in the table. Part II - The Relationship Between the Acceleration of a Body and its Mass
Photo-gate Mass of Cart Varied Cart D Air Track 6 Washers Timer Photo-gate

Part II
As demonstrated in class, use a constant force of 35 g to accelerate six carts having different masses (100g, 200, 300, 400g, 500g, and 600g) along the track. With each cart starting from rest, determine the time required for the cart to travel through a measured distance using the photo-gate timer. For each cart, measure the time required for it to move through the known distance four times.

Before coming to class prepare a data table for Part II. Include columns for the mass of each cart, the four times for each cart, the average of the four times, the distance traveled by the cart, and the calculated acceleration. Record your data in the table.

2 E.5 - NEWTON'S SECOND LAW

ANALYSIS Part I (a) Since the initial velocity of the cart, the distance traveled, and time of travel is known, the acceleration of the cart can be calculated. Calculate the acceleration of the cart as a result of each value of the applied force using the average of the four times. Show one complete calculation of the acceleration. Enter the calculated values of the acceleration in your table for Part I. (b) Assuming the relationship between the acceleration of the cart and the applied force to be a power law, plot a log-log graph of the acceleration of the cart versus the applied force. (c) In the report answer the following question: Q-1 What general conclusion can be made concerning the relationship between the acceleration of a body and the force applied? For example, is the acceleration directly proportional to the force, inversely proportional to the force, proportional to the 3 power or what? State specifically how your graph leads you to this conclusion. Part II - (a) As in Part I, the initial velocity of the cart, the distance traveled, and the time of travel can be used to determine the acceleration of the cart. Calculate the acceleration of each cart using the average of the four times and enter the calculated values in the table for Part II. Assuming the relationship between the acceleration of the cart and its mass to be a power law, plot a log-log graph of the acceleration of each cart versus its mass. In the report answer the following question: Q-2 What general conclusion can be made about the acceleration of a group of objects and their masses when the same force is applied to each object? For example, is the acceleration directly proportional to the mass,
1 inversely proportional to the mass, proportional to the 2 power or what? State specifically how your graph leads you to this conclusion. 2

(b) (c)

GRAND TOTAL CONCLUSION Combine the conclusions from Parts I and II into a single equation relating the acceleration of a body to its mass and the applied force. Evaluate any constants. The result should be Newton's second law in terms of the units used in the experiment.