SS2 S&E Lab Experiment

Measuring the acceleration of an object on an incline

Objectives Part 1: To measure the acceleration of an object on an incline. Part 2 (optional): To determine whether the angle of inclination effects the acceleration of an object. Introduction and theory Part 1 When objects are in motion, their average velocity can be calculated as follows:

Displacement is how far the object has travelled from its starting point. The elapsed time is how long the object took to move this distance. The standard units for displacement are metres (m), and the standard unit for elapsed time is seconds (s). The standard unit for velocity is metres per second (m/s) The average acceleration of an object can be calculated as follows:

The standard unit of acceleration is metres per second squared (m/s2). Part 2 When an object is on an incline, there are various forces acting upon it. Figure 1 shows these forces.

m = mass of object g = acceleration due to gravity (theta)= angle of inclination N = normal force f = friction Figure 1: Forces acting upon an object at an incline (Websters Dictionary Online, 2010)

SS2 S&E Lab Experiment

The force pushing the object down the incline is mg sin a is the acceleration of the object. Therefore: Cancelling the mass we get:

. By Newtons laws of motion, F= ma, where

We would expect that as we increase the angle of inclination, the acceleration of the object will also increase. Equipment 1. Desk 2. Books 3. Tape measure / ruler 4. Blue tac 5. Stopwatch 6. Ball Procedure Part 1: Measuring the acceleration 1. Set up the equipment as shown in figure 2. Make sure that the incline is just small enough that the ball can start to roll down. Having too steep an incline will make it difficult to time the motion.

Figure 2: Arrangement of equipment

SS2 S&E Lab Experiment

2. To mark the distances, first place a dot of blue tac at the starting position of the ball, high up the table. Using the measuring tape or ruler, measure 25cm from this point, and mark with another dot of blue tac. Repeat for distance 50cm, 75cm, and 100cm. 3. Place the ball at the starting position, and release at the same time as starting the stopwatch. Time how long it takes for the ball to reach the 25cm mark, and stop the stopwatch. Record this time. 4. Repeat step 3, but start the stopwatch when the ball reaches 25cm, and stop when it reaches 50cm. 5. Repeat step 4 for 50cm-75cm, and 75cm-100cm. 6. Repeats steps 3-5 for twice more. Part 2: Changing the incline 1. Using more books, increase the incline of the desk by a few degrees. Avoid having the incline too steep. 2. Repeat steps 3-6 for the new incline. Results You will need to write your results in a table. Table 1 shows a possible arrangement of the results. Table 1: Timings for each section on the incline Section (cm) 0-25 25-50 50-75 75-100 Analysis 1. Calculate the average velocity for each section. 2. The cummulative for 0-25 will be its average time. The cummulative time for 25-50 will be the average time for 0-25 plus the time for 25-50. Follow this pattern for the other two sections. 3. Draw a graph with velocity on the y axis and cummulative time on the x axis. 4. Draw a trend line through the points on the graph, it should be a straight line. 5. Calculate the gradient of this line on the graph. This is now the average acceleration of the object in m/s2. 6. For part 2, draw on the same graph the line for the second incline. Also calculate the average acceleration. Compare with the acceleration of the first incline. References Websters Dictionary Online. (2006). Defintion of inclined plane Retrieved from http://www.webstersdictionary-online.com/definitions/inclined+plane? 3 1st timing (s) 2nd timing (s) 3rd timing (s) Average time (s) Distance travelled (m) Average Velocity (m/s) Cummulative time (s)

SS2 S&E Lab Experiment

Experiment adapted from Practical Physics. (2009). Timing a trolley on a slope. Retrieved from http://www.practicalphysics.org/go/Experiment_256.html