Free fall

Yoskorn Mongkolsuk(Tem).10-5
Objective
We want to measure the acceleration of free falling body or gravity force (g) to prove that
9.8 is correct real value by using Picket Fence and a Photogate

Hypothesis
Our hypothesis is the graph will go straight up because the distance is same which is 5 cm.
the time is going to be same too which make the velocity same. Another reason is because the
acceleration(g) is almost constant because in our lab, there are wind or air resistance that can
change the acceleration

Materials
Power Macintosh or Windows PC Vernier Photogate
LabQuest interface Picket Fence
Logger Lite Clamp or ring stand to secure Photogate

Procedure
1. Fasten the Photogate rigidly to a ring stand so the arms extend horizontally. The entire
length of the Picket Fence must be able to fall freely through the Photogate. To avoid damaging the
Picket Fence, make sure it has a soft surface (such as a carpet) to land on.
2. Connect the Photogate to the DIG/SONIC 1 input of the LabQuest or the DG 1 input on the
ULI.
3. Observe the reading on the screen or the LabQuest interface. Block the Photogate with
your hand; note the Photogate is shown as blocked. Remove your hand and the display should
change to unblock.
4. Open the file in the Experiment 5 folder of Physics with your Computers. Two graphs will
appear on the screen. The top graph displays distance vs. time, and the lower graph velocity vs. time.
5. Click COLLECT to prepare the Photogate. Hold the top of the Picket Fence and drop it
through the Photogate, releasing it from your grasp completely before it enters the Photogate. Be
careful when releasing the Picket Fence. It must not touch the sides of the Photogate as it falls and it
needs to remain vertical. Click STOP to end data collection.
6. Examine your graphs. The slope of a velocity vs. time graph is a measure of acceleration. If
the velocity graph is approximately a straight line of a constant slope, the acceleration is constant. If
the acceleration of your Picket Fence appears constant, fit a straight line to your data. To do this,
select the straight part of your data and use the linear fit function in the analyze menu of Logger Lite.
Record the slope in the data table.
7. To establish the reliability of your slope measurement, repeat Steps 5 and 6 five more
times. Do not use drops in which the Picket Fence hits or misses the Photogate. Record the slope
values in the data table.




















Result

Time 1

Time 2



Time 3



Time 4




Time 5



Time 6




Acceleration of each graph
Trail 1 2 3 4 5 6
Slope(m/s2) 9.759 9.757 9.797 9.767 9.689 9.720

Analysis

From the six times of the experiment, there are accelerations of Picket Fence in the six trails.
The table below show the maximum, minimum and average point
minimum maximum average
Acceleration(m/s2) 9.689 9.767 9.748

In each graph of the distance vs. time for free fall, the shapes of them are all similar with
perfect straight up with none of up or down. In some graph, there might have a little up or down but
it is still look like straight line
Also, in each graph of the velocity vs. time, the shapes of them are perfect straight line with
a little changes too. It relates to the distance vs. time because it is a straight line. That means it is
constant which make the acceleration or slope in the distance vs. time constant too. Therefore the
distance vs. time increase at the same rate which show as straight up line.
My final value of acceleration from the experiment which represent the best value is
Acceleration due to gravity 9.7 + or - 0.1m/s2

From our research about the accepted value of gravity, we get the result of 9.8 m/s2. In our
experiment, we get 9.7 + or - 0.1m/s2 which is in the range of our value. That means that our result
can be accepted because it is very close to the accepted result
Conclusion
From the result, it is following our hypothesis that the graph will go straight up because the
acceleration is constant. That makes the velocity graph increases at the same rate which is shown as
linear line. The slope of the graph is 9.7 + or - 0.1m/s2. It is very close to the gravity force value that
is 9.8 m/s2. These show that our experiment have an efficient result. However, it isnt perfect as the
accepted value because Picket Fence might hit the Photogate or might not fall horizontally. We can
get rid of these mistakes by carefully drop Picket Fence and held this experiment in the vacuum
room where there are no air resistance.
In the future, other can held other experiment based on these result. They may test the air
resistance in any place whether where is the highest .