Lab Members: Carol Ge, Matt Singer, & Leyton Shroff
Experiment Parts
Conclusion
The purpose of these two labs were to identify how mass and net force are related to acceleration, and how changes in each one affect the acceleration.
From the Acceleration & Net Force lab, we determined that acceleration is 0 m/s^2 when the net force is 0 N. Thus, the cart had a constant velocity when there was no unbalanced push or pull, which follows Newton's First Law of Inertia that states that "an object will continue to move at a constant velocity unless it feels an unbalanced push or pull". However, as the net force increased above 0 N, it had an unbalanced pull due to the increase in the tension force between the cart and the hanger that was caused by the force of gravity on the weights on the hanger. We also noticed that the cart sped up as the mass on the hanger increased. Ultimately, we deduced that acceleration is proportional to the net force, so acceleration increases as net force increases.
From the Acceleration & Mass lab, we saw that the acceleration decreased at a decreasing rate as the total mass of the system increased. Here, we deduced that acceleration is inversely related to the total mass of a system, so acceleration decreases as total mass increases.
This finding is also known as Newton's 2nd Law of Acceleration, Net Force, and Mass.
From the Acceleration & Net Force lab, we determined that acceleration is 0 m/s^2 when the net force is 0 N. Thus, the cart had a constant velocity when there was no unbalanced push or pull, which follows Newton's First Law of Inertia that states that "an object will continue to move at a constant velocity unless it feels an unbalanced push or pull". However, as the net force increased above 0 N, it had an unbalanced pull due to the increase in the tension force between the cart and the hanger that was caused by the force of gravity on the weights on the hanger. We also noticed that the cart sped up as the mass on the hanger increased. Ultimately, we deduced that acceleration is proportional to the net force, so acceleration increases as net force increases.
From the Acceleration & Mass lab, we saw that the acceleration decreased at a decreasing rate as the total mass of the system increased. Here, we deduced that acceleration is inversely related to the total mass of a system, so acceleration decreases as total mass increases.
This finding is also known as Newton's 2nd Law of Acceleration, Net Force, and Mass.
Evaluating Procedures
Weaknesses and Limitations
One weakness of my lab was that in the Acceleration & Mass part, my lab partners and I failed to collect sufficient data. Although our trials were above the minimum of 10, we started off with the 1 kg mass on the cart. Consequently, the acceleration did not have any significant changes and were all clustered together around 0.27 m/s^2. We eventually took off the 1 kg mass and started measuring the acceleration with the smaller masses, but ran out of time to collect sufficient data to create a more accurate graph of the relationship between total mass and acceleration.
Uncertainty
Improvement
To improve this lab, I would have conducted repeated trials to double check the acceleration. In addition, I would use a more precise motion detector to determine the exact position and time of the cart to create a more exact calculation of acceleration. I would also have liked to use a heavier hanger for the Acceleration & Mass part of the lab to obtain a greater range of the acceleration. A smaller change would be to gather more data between 1.045 kg and 1.545 kg to create a more precise inverse model of the data.
One weakness of my lab was that in the Acceleration & Mass part, my lab partners and I failed to collect sufficient data. Although our trials were above the minimum of 10, we started off with the 1 kg mass on the cart. Consequently, the acceleration did not have any significant changes and were all clustered together around 0.27 m/s^2. We eventually took off the 1 kg mass and started measuring the acceleration with the smaller masses, but ran out of time to collect sufficient data to create a more accurate graph of the relationship between total mass and acceleration.
Uncertainty
- The masses of the objects in the system, more specifically the cart (0.495 kg), the hanger, (0.05 kg), the 1 kg weight, and the miscellaneous weights (0.05 kg, 0.05 kg, 0.02 kg, 0.01 kg) are not exactly the weights indicated. For example, the cart was stated to be 0.5 kg, yet upon weighing, it was 0.495 kg. This may also be due to the different scales. with different measurements.
- The acceleration was obtained from the Logger Pro application and could have been more accurate. For example, in the Acceleration & Mass part of the lab, our measurements for acceleration ranged from 0.26 to 0.28 for the total masses of 1.575 kg to 1.675 kg. They also didn't follow a pattern of steadily decreasing, as we retrieved the data points of (1.575, 0.26) and (1.615, 0.28).
Improvement
To improve this lab, I would have conducted repeated trials to double check the acceleration. In addition, I would use a more precise motion detector to determine the exact position and time of the cart to create a more exact calculation of acceleration. I would also have liked to use a heavier hanger for the Acceleration & Mass part of the lab to obtain a greater range of the acceleration. A smaller change would be to gather more data between 1.045 kg and 1.545 kg to create a more precise inverse model of the data.