Lab report and experiment in Physics
Jimmy22
Lab4-formal.docxLab #4
THIS IS THE FORMAL LAB – FOLLOW THE FORMAL LAB FORMAT
1. What are you trying to understand?
2. Hypothesis and calculations:
a) Draw a free body diagram for the weight and the cart when the system is stationary. Label all the forces correctly, and indicate which forces are the same magnitude as one another.
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b) When the system is stationary, what is the relationship between the tension in the rope and the force of gravity on the weight?
c) How is the motion of the cart related to the motion of the weight? Will they have the same speed? The same magnitude of acceleration?
d) Draw a free body diagram for the weight and the cart when the system is accelerating. Label all the forces correctly, and indicate which forces are the same magnitude as one another. Ignore friction.
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e) Write an expression for the net force on the weight when the system is accelerating. Include each force acting on the weight, and the weight’s acceleration.
f) Do you predict that the tension in the string when the system is accelerating will be less than, equal to, or greater than the tension in the string when the system is stationary?
g) Write an expression for the net force on the cart when the system is accelerating.
h) Write an expression for the net force on the [cart + weight] system when it is accelerating.
i) What is the relationship between time interval, displacement, and acceleration of the system?
4. Conduct your experiments and record data!
a) What is the mass of one cart? Show your work.
b) What would change if you didn’t neglect friction?
c) Choose one combination of cart and weight and run the simulation without wheels (with friction). What is the force of friction? You may assume that the analogous carts have the same mass with/without wheels, respectively. Show all your work.
6. What assumptions are you making?
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