Week 3 - Experiment 1 - Free Falling Bodies (Lab)

Labs for College Physics: Mechanics Worksheet Experiment 3.2-1

Newton's Second Law and Newton's Cradle

As you work through the steps in the lab procedure, record your experimental values and the results

on this worksheet. Use the exact values you record for your data to make later calculations.

Part I: Newton's Second Law, Step 2

Complete Table 1. Record all data to three decimal places (e.g., 4.000 or 6.325 or 0.000). Do not

include units in your answer.

Table 1: (M = 100 g;m = 1:0 g)

Cart Mass (M) Mass (m) Distance (s) Time (t)

(g) (g) (m) (s)

100 1.0 0.000 0.000

100 1.0 0.100

100 1.0 0.200

100 1.0 0.300

100 1.0 0.400

100 1.0 0.500

100 1.0 0.600

100 1.0 0.700

100 1.0 0.800

100 1.0 0.900

100 1.0 1.000

Labs for College Physics: Mechanics Worksheet Experiment 3.2-2

If the data points of distance and time were connected smoothly on a graph, the curve would be a

.

The line or curve formed is because the object is .

Labs for College Physics: Mechanics Worksheet Experiment 3.2-3

Part I: Newton's Second Law, Step 3

Complete Table 2. Record all data to three decimal places (e.g., 4.000 or 6.325 or 0.000). Do not

include units in your answer.

Table 2: (M = 250 g;m = 1:0 g)

Cart Mass (M) Mass (m) Distance (s) Time (t)

(g) (g) (m) (s)

250 1.0 0.000 0.000

250 1.0 0.100

250 1.0 0.200

250 1.0 0.300

250 1.0 0.400

250 1.0 0.500

250 1.0 0.600

250 1.0 0.700

250 1.0 0.800

250 1.0 0.900

250 1.0 1.000

Labs for College Physics: Mechanics Worksheet Experiment 3.2-4

If the data points of distance and time were connected smoothly on a graph the curve would be a

.

The line or curve formed is because the object is .

Labs for College Physics: Mechanics Worksheet Experiment 3.2-5

Part I: Newton's Second Law, Step 4

Complete Table 3. Record all data to three decimal places (e.g., 4.000 or 6.325 or 0.000). Do not

include units in your answer.

Table 3: (M = 100 g;m = 4:0 g)

Cart Mass (M) Mass (m) Distance (s) Time (t)

(g) (g) (m) (s)

100 4.0 0.000 0.000

100 4.0 0.100

100 4.0 0.200

100 4.0 0.300

100 4.0 0.400

100 4.0 0.500

100 4.0 0.600

100 4.0 0.700

100 4.0 0.800

100 4.0 0.900

100 4.0 1.000

Labs for College Physics: Mechanics Worksheet Experiment 3.2-6

If the data points of distance and time were connected smoothly on a graph the curve would be a

.

The line or curve formed is because the object is .

Part I: Newton's Second Law, Step 5

If you increase the mass of the cart, while leaving the hanging mass unchanged, the

acceleration of the system will .

If you increase the mass of the hanging weight, while leaving the mass of the cart

unchanged, the acceleration of the system will .

Labs for College Physics: Mechanics Worksheet Experiment 3.2-7

Part II: Newton's Cradle

Observe one ball swinging. Next, observe and describe what happens when two balls, three balls,

and nally four balls are swinging, and record your observations.

Table 4

Observation

one ball

two balls

three balls

four balls