Assignment #3.3 Newton’s 2nd Law Online Lab
Name: ___________________________________________________________ Period: ______
Newton’s 2nd Law Online Lab
How do mass and force affect acceleration?
Learning Targets
 I can determine how acceleration changes when force changes
 I can determine how acceleration changes when mass changes
 I can state the relationship between acceleration and force/mass.
Introduction
Use the textbook to answer the following questions
http://www.pearsonsuccessnet.com Username: KUNAHIGH Password: KAVEMEN1
Combining Forces (pages 357-358)
1. The overall force acting on an object after all the forces are combined is the ___________.
2. How do balanced and unbalanced forces affect the motion of an object? ________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Newton’s Second Law of Motion (pages 365-368)
3. According to Newton’s second law of motion, acceleration of an object depends upon the
______________ of the object and the ______________acting on it.
Match each term with its description.
Description
_____ 28. A measure of the inertia of an object
_____ 29.
Net force
Mass
_____ 30. Causes an object’s velocity to
change
Term
A. mass
B. net force
C. acceleration
31. True or False The acceleration of an object is always in the same direction as the net force acting
on the object.
32. True or False If the same force acts upon two objects with different masses, the acceleration will
be greater for the object with the greater mass.
Assignment #3.3 Newton’s 2nd Law Online Lab
You will be investigating how mass, force, and acceleration are related in this
assignment. Please follow the directions carefully!
Part 1 Procedure
Constant Mass (200 kg), Changing Force Experiment
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)
Go to the following website: http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/sims.php?sim=Forces_in_1_Dimension
Click on the green Run Now! Button below the simulation picture. You will be using this simulation to learn a
little bit about Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion. Please follow the directions very carefully and in order!!!
Maximize the simulation screen.
On the right side of the screen, turn Friction off by clicking to select Off.
Click on the box to the left of Show Total Force to uncheck this option.
Do NOT change to object you are using for the remainder of this steps for this part of the assignment. The 200
kg File Cabinet should be selected.
On the left side of the screen, change the applied force to 100 N by typing 100 in the box below where it says
Applied Force.
Click on the Graph Acceleration on the left side of the screen.
Now click the Go button on the left side of the screen.
Record the acceleration in the data table below.
Once the object is pushed across the screen and out of view, click on the Reset button that appears in the top
right part of the screen.
Repeat steps 7-11 adding 100 N to the Applied Force each time.
Data Table
Applied Force (N)
Acceleration
(m/s2)
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
Graph
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)
13)
14)
15)
Minimize your simulation as you will be returning to it later.
Open Logger Pro 3.8 from the Desktop of a school computer (if you are at home, go to
http://www.vernier.com/products/software/logger-lite/ and download LoggerLite)
Under Data Set on the left hand side, double click on the X.
In the Manual Column Options window that pops up, change the Name: from X to Applied Force, change the Short
Name: from X to Force, and type in N (the symbol for newtons) for Units:.
Click Done to close the Manual Column Options window.
Now double click on the red Y.
In the Manual Column Options window that pops up, change the Name: from Y to Acceleration and change the Short
Name: from Y to Acceleration and change the Units: to m/s^2 (the ^ symbol is the typed by holding the shift key and
hitting the 6).
Click Done to close the Manual Column Options window.
Right click on the graph.
In the Graph Options window, under Appearance: click on Point Symbols to select this option with a check mark.
Click on Connect Points to de-select this option or take the check mark away.
In the same Graph Options window, add the graph title which is y vs x or more specifically in this case: Acceleration
vs. Applied Force.
Click Done to close the Graph Options window.
Enter your data under the correct column.
Click on the Autoscale button (has a big blue A in a graph) in the middle of the toolbar at the top of the page.
Show your graph to your teacher and get a stamp here:
Stamp
2 of 4
Assignment #3.3 Newton’s 2nd Law Online Lab
Part 1 Conclusions
1. Looking at your graph, does the acceleration of the cart increase or decrease as the force
increases? What kind of a relationship is this (directly or inversely proportional)?
__________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
2. Compare the acceleration of the file cabinet when the force was 300 N with the acceleration of the
cabinet when the force was 600 N. Discuss what happened to the value of the acceleration.
__________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
3. Complete the following statement: When you double the force acting on an object and keep the
mass of the cabinet constant, the acceleration is ________________________.
4. You probably already knew that increasing the applied force on an object will increase its
acceleration. Give an example of where you have seen or experienced this before.
__________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Part 2 Procedure
Constant Force (150 N), Changing Mass Experiment
1) Maximize the simulation window again.
2) Change the Applied Force to 150 N. (The File Cabinet should still be your object.)
3) Record the mass of the File Cabinet in the data table below. You can find the mass by looking to the right at the
picture of the cabinet. It is listed in parentheses next to the name of it.
4) Click on the Go button.
5) Record the acceleration of the File Cabinet next to its mass in the data table.
6) Repeat this procedure selecting each of the five objects on the right hand side of the screen to test (File Cabinet,
Refrigerator, Textbook, Crate, Sleepy Dog)
Data Table
MASS (kg)
Acceleration
(m/s2)
Graph
1)
2)
3)
4)
Minimize your simulation.
Open Logger Pro (or LoggerLite)
Under Data Set on the left hand side, double click on the X.
In the Manual Column Options window that pops up, change the Name: from X to Mass of Object, change the Short
Name: from X to Mass, and type in kg (the symbol for kilograms) for Units:.
5) Click Done to close the Manual Column Options window.
6) Now double click on the red Y.
3 of 4
Assignment #3.3 Newton’s 2nd Law Online Lab
7) In the Manual Column Options window that pops up, change the Name: from Y to Acceleration and change the Short
Name: from Y to Acceleration and change the Units: to m/s^2 (the ^ symbol is the typed by holding the shift key and
hitting the 6).
8) Click Done to close the Manual Column Options window.
9) Right click on the graph.
10) In the Graph Options window, under Appearance: click on Point Symbols to select this option with a check mark. Click
on Connect Points to de-select this option or take the check mark away.
11) In the same Graph Options window, add the graph title which is y vs x or more specifically in this case: Acceleration
vs. Mass.
12) Click Done to close the Graph Options window.
13) Enter your data under the correct column.
14) Click on the Autoscale button (has a big blue A in a graph) in the middle of the toolbar at the top of the page.
15) Show your graph to your teacher and get a stamp here:
Stamp
Part 2 Conclusions
1. Looking at your graph, does the acceleration of the cart increase or decrease as the mass
increases? What kind of a relationship is this (directly or inversely proportional)?
__________________________________________________________
2. Compare the acceleration of the File Cabinet (200 kg) to the acceleration of the Refrigerator (400
kg). What happened to the value of the acceleration when mass was doubled?
__________________________________________________________
3. Complete the following statement: When you double the mass of an object and keep the force
acting on it constant, the acceleration will _____________________________.
4. You probably already knew that increasing the mass of an object will decrease its acceleration.
Give an example of where you have seen or experienced this before.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
5. How does increasing force affect acceleration? How does increasing mass affect acceleration?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
6. What would happen to acceleration if you doubled the force acting on an object AND doubled the
mass of the object?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Parts 1 and 2 Conclusion
1) Circle one: Acceleration is (directly / inversely) proportional to Applied Force.
2) Circle one: Acceleration is (directly / inversely) proportional to Mass.
NOW FILL THE FACTS YOU LEARNED INTO YOUR ESSENTIAL FACTS BOOKLET FOR UNIT 3!
4 of 4