Acceleration Due to Gravity Lab
Name:_____________________________________
Date:____________
Mod:____________
Pre-Lab Questions:
1. Does the mass of an object matter when calculating free fall kinematic equations? Explain…
2. List the kinematic equations for free fall.
3. What is the acceleration and velocity of an object at max height when an object is thrown
straight up?
4. In the experiment, how many different size steel balls are used to gather data?
5. In the experiment, how many trials are completed per steel ball and what is the distance the
drop apparatus must be lowered for each trial?
6. In the experiment, what are the titles to the x-axis and y-axis for the graphs?
7. In the experiment, what is the height of the dropping apparatus above the landing pad?
Purpose:
-
To determine the acceleration due to gravity for a falling object.
Materials:
-
Steel poles (2)
Steel Support Base
90° Clamp (2)
Free Fall Adapter with Landing Pad
Metal Balls (Large and small)
Meter Stick
Data Studio Software w/ Interface Box
Theory/Background:
-
Define: Free Fall, Max Height
Procedure:
1. Place the support base near the edge of the lab table and insert one of the steel poles into it.
2. Place a 90° Clamp at the top of the steel pole and insert another steel pole into the clamp to
create a 90° angle between the two poles.
3. Attach the free fall dropping apparatus at the end of the horizontal pole using another 90°
clamp and place the landing pad directly underneath it on the floor.
4. Using a meter stick set the height of the dropping apparatus above the landing pad to 1.70
meters. 1.7 meters is measured from the top of the landing pad to the bottom of the steel ball
that is held in place by the dropping apparatus.
5. Insert the plug of the free fall apparatus into port #1 on the interface box. Make sure that the
interface box is turned on.
6. Open Data Studio
Acceleration Due to Gravity Lab
Methacton High School Physics Department
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7. Set the interface box to Science Workshop 500. Choose the Free Fall Adapter from the given list
of instruments after clicking on port #1 on the interface box located on the screen.
8. Uncheck the acceleration in the experimental setup. The only thing that should be checked is
time measured in seconds.
9. Double click the graph display in the lower left corner of the screen and a drop time graph
should appear.
10. Place the large steel ball in the dropping apparatus. Use the screw and metal flap to hold the
ball in place. Make sure once again that the landing pad is directly underneath the dropping
apparatus.
11. Click the start button on the top left corner of the screen and then release the large steel ball by
un-screwing the bolt on the dropping apparatus. Once the large steel ball hits the landing pad a
dot will appear on the graph. Press the stop button to stop recording data.
12. Press the button that looks like
located at the top left side of the graph in order for the data
point to be viewed more easily on the screen.
13. Press the button that looks like
located at the top of the graph. This will give the x and y
coordinates of the data point on the graph. Record the y axis coordinate in the data table
below, which is the time of fall measured in seconds.
14. Repeat the ball drop for a total of 8 trials using the large ball, lowering the height of the
dropping apparatus 0.1 meters for each trial. Record the exact drop height and time of fall in
the correct table below.
15. Repeat the same steps as above for the small steel ball. Record the exact drop height and time
of fall in the correct table below.
16. Calculate the Time squared and two multiplied by the distance and record the values in the
table below for both the large and small steel balls.
17. Open Microsoft Excel and create a graph for both the large and small steel ball where the y axis
is measured in two multiplied by the distance and the x axis is time squared.
18. Create a trend line on both graphs and display the equation on the line.
Acceleration Due to Gravity Lab
Methacton High School Physics Department
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Data Tables:
Large Steel Ball
Trial
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
5
6
7
8
Distance (m)
Time (s)
Time2(s2)
2Distance (m)
Small Steel Ball
Trial
1
2
3
4
Distance (m)
Time (s)
Time2(s2)
2Distance (m)
Post-Lab Questions:
1. What does the slope of the trend line represent on each of the graphs? What are the units?
2. Derive and convert the kinematic equation of 𝑑 = 𝑣𝑖 𝑡 + 12𝑔𝑡 2 into the slope intercept form of an
equation (y=mx+b).
3. What was the experimental acceleration of the small and large ball? Are they similar or
different? Explain.
4. Determine the percent error for both the small and large steel ball given that the acceleration
due to gravity of a falling object, neglecting air resistance, is a constant 9.81m/s2.
Acceleration Due to Gravity Lab
Methacton High School Physics Department
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