Constant & Accelerated Motion Lab
Name:_______________________________
Date:_________
Period:_________
Pre-Lab Questions:
1. Define Acceleration.
2. In your own words, explain what you think causes accelerations.
3. In the lab, what are the six distances that should be marked on the metal track?
4. In the lab, how many time trials should be completed for each distance?
5. In the lab you are asked to complete two graphs. What is the dependent and independent
variables, as well as the title of the graph for, “Part 1: Accelerated Motion”?
Objectives:
- Students will measure the motion of objects during constant velocity and accelerated motion to
gain familiarity with differences between these motions while using information from charts,
tables and graphs.
Materials:
- Metal Ball
- Stopwatch
- Inclined Plan (metal track)
- Meterstick
- Textbooks (ramp prop)
- Computer w/ Microsoft Excel
Procedure:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Part 1: Accelerated Motion
Take the metal ramp and place it on an incline using textbooks in your lab station. Place the one
end of the ramp approximately 25-30 cm above the table and the other end resting on the table.
Measure 20 cm along the ramp, from the top of the ramp. Mark this location using your pencil.
Hold the ball at the top of the ramp and release it from rest. Measure the amount of time it
takes to reach the first mark. Record this in your data table below.
Repeat the prior step four more times, to get a total of 5 trials for that particular displacement
of 20 cm.
Repeat steps #2 and #3 for the displacements of 40 cm, 60 cm, 80 cm, 100 cm & 120 cm.
Once completing all five trials for each of the displacements, calculate the average times.
Using the displacement values and average times, calculate the displacement multiplied by two
and the time squared. Place the values in the data table below.
Using the displacement multiplied by two and the time squared values, create a graph on Excel
making sure to show titles and a linear line.
Constant & Accelerated Motion Lab
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Part 2: Constant Motion
1. The first part of the lab deals with constant velocity motion, and for this portion of the
experiment, you will be given the data to analyze.
2. The data can be found in the data table below.
3. Using the data found in the data table for constant velocity, create a Displacement verses Time
graph using Microsoft Excel.
4. Include the titles for the graph and a linear trend line representing the data.
Data Table:
Part 1: Accelerated Motion
Displacement
(m)
Time Trial #1
(s)
Time Trail #2
(s)
Time Trial #3
(s)
Average Time
(s)
Displacement
x2
(m)
Time2
(s2)
0.20 m
0.40 m
0.60 m
0.80 m
1.00 m
1.20 m
Part 2: Constant Motion
Displacement
(m)
Time
(s)
0.00 m
8.0 m
16.0 m
24.5 m
31.5 m
40.0 m
0.00 sec
1.0 sec
2.4 sec
3.6 sec
4.9 sec
6.2 sec
Post-Lab Questions:
1. In relation to part 1 of the lab, what would the graph look like if you were to graph Displacement
and Time without influencing the values by multiplying and squaring them?
2. In relation to part 1 of the lab, what is the slope of the line equal too? What units does the
slope have?
3. If the ramp had a steeper incline, how would that affect the graph?
4. What do you think the acceleration would be equal too on an incline that is perfectly vertical?
How about horizontal?
5. In relation to part 2 of the lab, if the object was moving faster at a constant velocity, what things
about your graph would have looked different? What things would have looked the same?
6. Using the equation of the line found in part 2 for constant motion, how long would it take (time)
for the metal ball to travel a displacement of 65.0 meters?
7. Using the equation of the line found in part 1 for accelerated motion, what would be the
displacement of the metal ball at 5.0 seconds?
Constant & Accelerated Motion Lab
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