Physics Labs

After this lab you should understand how to:

1. Recognize what a marked video screen looks like for constant acceleration.

2. Recognize what position and displacement versus time graphs look like for constant acceleration.

3. Recognize what a velocity versus time graph looks like for constant acceleration.

4. Find the acceleration from a velocity versus time graph.

5. Analyze graphs and write position, displacement, velocity and momentum equations as functions of time.

6. Find the net force from a velocity versus time graph.

7. Find the net force from a momentum versus time graph.

Experimental Steps:

PTK60 ->auto->Browser->OK->Algebra Physics-> Acceleration and Force

->

->Marking the video->Click here to open the video->Yes

1. Play the video.

2. Press the Next button.

3. Select Option 1, then press the Next button.

4. Pick the y direction of motion, then press the Next button.

5. Select position, velocity and momentum plots.

6. Press the Next, then press the Graph button.

Online PTK60 version: ptk60.com -> Physics 1100 ->Conservation of Momentum->

7. Looking at the velocity versus time graph, is the acceleration constant? What tells you this? Is the acceleration positive or negative? What tells you this?

8. Find the slope and intercept of the velocity versus time graph. Is the slope reasonable (remember that g = 9.8m/s2)? Convert the acceleration from m/s2 to ft/s2. 1 ft = 0.305 m

9. Using the slope and intercept, write an equation for velocity and check your equation with the computer graph. vy = vyo + ayt

10. Using the slope and intercept from the previous step, write an equation for displacement and check your equation with the displacement graph. Dy = vyot + 0.5ayt2

11. Look at the position versus time plot. Using the displacement equation from the previous step, write the following equation and check the equation using times on the plot. Use the data table at t = 0 to find yo. y = yo+ Dy

12. Look at the velocity versus time graph. What are the units of the area? How does the area of this graph compare with the displacement at various times?

13. Examine the momentum versus time graph. Does it have the same shape as the velocity versus time graph? Are the numbers the same? Are the units the same? How do you go from the velocity graph to the momentum graph? How do you go from the momentum graph to the velocity graph? Write an equation for momentum and check it with the computer graph. py = m(vy) = m(vyo + ayt)

14. Find the net force using the velocity and momentum graphs. What do we call the force in this experiment?