Xianbo Piao
0380878
Free Fall Acceleration Lab Report
Background
In this experiment you measure the acceleration of a falling object. Since the distance and hence the speed of fall is too small for air resistance to become important, and since other sources of friction are very small, the acceleration of the falling weight is very nearly g.
Introduction:
In this lab, we will show that an object under the influence of gravity alone accelerates at a constant rate. We will also measure this acceleration and compare with the actual value of 9.8 m/s2 . We will also learn techniques of writing a good lab report and forming tables, superscripts, subscripts, and Greek letters in Word.
Objectives:
The object of this experiment is to determine the value of the acceleration of gravity by measuring the rate of acceleration of a freely falling object. In addition, one will be able to compare theory with experiment for constantly accelerated motion.
English: The figure shows experimental data for th...
English: The figure illustrates the contributions ...![English: A free-falling object achieves its terminal velocity when the downward force of gravity (Fg) equals the upward force of drag (Fd). This causes the net force on the object to be zero, resulting in an acceleration of zero.[1]](/uploads/1/14591/english-free-falling-object-achieves-its-terminal-velocity-d.gif)
English: A free-falling object achieves its termin...Experiment:
Position the photogate at the edge of the table. Place the foam pads on the floor where the picket fence will land. Hold the picket fence above the photogate. One lab partner should click the START button while another partner releases the picket fence through the photogate. Click STOP to stop recording the data. This trial should produce a linear v vs. t graph. If the graph deviates too much from a straight line delete the data set by opening the tab "Experiment" at the top of the screen and choosing Delete Last Data Run.
Theory:
An object in free fall should fall with a constant rate of acceleration, and that rate should be g, the acceleration due to gravity. For any object moving with constant acceleration we know how to write its velocity and position as a function of time...