Sample Lab Report
Sample Lab Report
In which
object that is being acted upon only by the force of gravity is said to be in a state
of free fall. There are two important motion characteristics that are true of free-falling
objects: First free falling objects do not encounter air resistance, and second the
acceleration rate (on earth) is 9.8 m/s/s.
In our experiment we will use a Motion Detector to collect distance, velocity, and
acceleration data for a ball thrown straight upward. We will be able to notice the free
fall for the ball going up and then returning to its place. And the graph of its velocity vs.
time, distance vs. time graph and the acceleration vs. time graph.
Collect position, velocity, and acceleration data as a ball travels straight up and
down.
Analyze the position vs. time, velocity vs. time, and acceleration vs. time graphs.
Determine the best-fit equations for the distance vs. time and velocity vs. time
graphs.
Determine the mean acceleration from the acceleration vs. time graph.
Know the free fall , and the concept .
To determine gravitational acceleration by studying the velocity of a falling object
If air resistance was ignored then free fall will act on the object and the acceleration
will be 9.81m/s2.
1.
Independent: Time
2.
Dependent:
a. Position
b. Velocity
c. Acceleration
3.
LabQuest
LabQuestApp
Macbook
MotionDetector
Volleyball
Flashmemory
In this experiment a ball was held straight up above a device called Motion Detector,
We prepared to collect data by connecting the detector by a cable to the Lab Quest.
This made it possible to measure the height of the ball from the detector. The device
was to collect the data, the moment the ball was thrown up. We repeated the steps
until we got the typical graphs of position-time, velocity-time and acceleration-time.
During free fall, the data for position, velocity and acceleration were as follows:
Time/s Position/m Velocity/m/s Acceleration/m/s2
2.35
0.53
8.49
0.67
2.08
0.59
9.78
0.7
1.82
0.64
9.49
0.72
1.62
0.68
9.53
0.75
1.36
0.72
9.96
0.77
1.09
0.75
9.56
0.8
0.87
0.77
8.97
0.82
0.67
0.79
9.14
0.85
0.43
0.81
9.87
0.87
0.16
0.814
10.2
0.9
0.10
0.815
9.97
0.92
0.34
0.808
9.41
0.95
0.797
9.22
0.97
0.56
0.780
9.37
1
0.79
0.758
9.49
1.02
1.03
0.729
9.40
1.05
1.27
0.694
9.21
1.07
1.50
0.654
9.22
1.1
1.73
0.608
8.60
1.12
1.98
In the position time graph above, the highlighted region shows the free fall. Slope of this
graph gives us the velocity time graph below.
The highlighted region in the graph is a straight line during free fall. So the slope of this
graph= acceleration= constant and negative. The value of the slope is shown above
which is close to g.
Based from the results of our experiment, we conclude that all falling bodies have the
same motion regardless of mass when air resistance is negligible. The weight, size, and
shape of an object are not factors in describing a free fall. When an object falls under
the influence of gravity, its velocity increases at a regular pace and the average of this
pace is known as g = 9.8 m/s2.
1.
Air resistance.
2.
3.
Human error.