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In this lab, you will perform experiments about inertia and Newtons First Law in terms of car crashes.
Objectives
You will:
Describe situations with zero acceleration, other than objects at rest.
Be able to explain the role of Newtons first law and inertia in car crashes.
Be able to explain the importance of seat belts in terms of physics concepts.
Background
Newtons first law describes the motion and acceleration of objects. There are two parts to the
law. The first part says that an object at rest will stay at rest. The second part says that an
object in motion will stay in motion. Both parts of the law have an addition that say unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
Tying together what we have learned so far about velocity and acceleration, look at the diagram to the right. Another way of
looking at this law is to say that objects will not accelerate unless they are acted on by unbalanced forces.
Pre-Lab Questions
1. Can an object in motion have an acceleration of zero? If so, how?
2. In a car crash, there are two collisions. The first one is when the car runs into the other car. What do you think the "second
collision" is? (Hint: It's the one that hurts)
3. Refer to the picture to the right. The car is about to run into the wall. Make a
prediction about what will happen to the car, and what will happen to the person
in the car. PREDICTION: The car will _______________________, and the person in the car will _________________________.
Data
Distance Up Distance Penny is Thrown (cm) Average Qualitative Observations
Ramp (cm) Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 distance (cm)
10
20
30
40
55** Distance prediction from graph: ___________ Actual distance from trial: _________________
Background
To summarize, Newtons first law says that an object at rest will stay at rest, and an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted
upon by an unbalanced force. In Lab #14, you found that objects in motion (the car and the passenger), continue in motion, unless
acted upon by an unbalanced force (the book). The car is acted on by the unbalanced force, but the passenger is not, which is why it
continues moving forward. The passenger in the car is said to have inertia, which is a tendency for an object to do what it is already
doing. Many times, Newtons first law can be summarized with just this one word: inertia.
Pre-lab Question
Observe the demonstration with the hard-boiled and raw egg. Explain what you see in terms of inertia.
Prediction: Using knowledge gained in lab #14, predict which direction you expect the pennies on each car to go. Refer to
specific directions like toward the ramp and away from the ramp. The penny on the resting car will _____________________
_________________________, and the penny on the crashing car will__________________________________________________.
Data
Trial Number Direction of Motion of Resting Cart's Direction of Motion of Crashing Cart's
Penny Penny
1
2
3
Objectives:
You will:
Measure the theoretical force of a rubber band Hot Wheels launcher directly by using a force meter.
Calculate the actual force of a rubber band Hot Wheels launcher indirectly through calculation.
Background:
Newtons second law describes how force, mass, and acceleration are related. First, this law states that if you do place a force on an
object, it will accelerate, i.e., change its velocity, and it will change its velocity in the direction of the force. It accelerates in the
direction that you push it.
Secondly, this acceleration is directly proportional to the force. For example, if you are pushing on an object, causing it to accelerate,
and then you push, say, three times harder, the acceleration will be three times greater. If you push twice as hard, it accelerates
twice as much.
Thirdly, this acceleration is inversely proportional to the mass of the object. For example, if you are pushing equally on two objects,
and one of the objects has five times more mass than the other, it will accelerate at one fifth the acceleration of the other. If it gets
twice the mass, it accelerates half as much.
Pre-lab Question:
Complete the following table, after reading the background above:
Trial # Mass of Car (g) Mass of Car (kg) Acceleration from Gate One to Gate Two Calculated Force (N)
(m/s/s)
1
2
3
Average force (N):
Lab #17: Newtons 2nd Law: Relationship between mass & acceleration
Objectives:
You will:
Describe the relationship between mass and acceleration, when the force is kept constant.
Pre-Lab Questions:
Manipulated variable: ___________________________ Responding variable: ______________________
Controlled variables (2): ___________________________________________________________________
Hypothesis: If ___________________________________________________________________________________________, then
____________________________________________________________________________________________________, because
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
Make a prediction about what the graph to the left will look like (sketch the shape of The Effect of Mass on the Acceleration of a Toy Car
the graph as a prediction):
Procedure:
Acceleration
1. Open the file 17-Newton2Law from the App$ server in the Science/Logger Pro
folder.
2. Measure and record the mass of a car in grams. Convert that mass to kilograms.
3. Put the car in the launcher with the clip pulled back to the first screw, and make
sure the car is blocking the first photogate (red light should be on). Click collect on
Logger Pro, and let the car go. Record the acceleration in the table below.
4. Repeat steps 2-3 two more times, being sure to pull the rubber band back to the Mass of Car
same screw each time.
5. Add 2 pennies to the top of the car and secure them with tape. Repeat steps 2-4. Continue adding 2 pennies until you reach 10
pennies. Calculate the average acceleration for each mass.
Lab #18: Newtons 2nd Law: Relationship between force & acceleration
Objectives:
You will
Explain the relationship between acceleration and force, if mass is kept constant
Procedure:
1. Open the file 18-Newton2Law from the App$ server in the Science/Logger Pro folder.
2. Measure and record the mass of a car in grams in the table below. Convert that mass to kilograms.
3. Click collect on Logger pro, and pull the binder clip with rubber band back to the first screw. Let the car go, and allow Logger Pro
to calculate the acceleration from the two photogates. Record the acceleration and force in the table below.
4. Repeat steps 2-3 two more times.
5. Pull the rubber band back to the second screw and then the third screw, and repeat steps 3-4 three times.
nd
6. Calculate the force at each point using Newtons 2 law formula.
7. Print your graph.
Procedure: Part 1
1. Place the ramp 50 cm from a wall. Roll a car down the plane, releasing it from the 30 cm mark each time.
2. Measure and record the distance the car bounces. Move the ramp out of the way if necessary to allow the cart to roll freely after
hitting the wall.
3. Repeat steps 1-2 two more times.
4. Repeat the experiment 5 times, adding 50 grams of mass to the cart each time. Calculate the average distance for each test.
Pre-Lab Questions
Manipulated variable: ___________________________ Responding variable: ______________________
Controlled variables (2): ___________________________________________________________________
Hypothesis: If ___________________________________________________________________________________________, then
____________________________________________________________________________________________________, because
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
Pre-Lab Questions
I expect the ramp cart to move in the following direction (describe):_____________________________________________________
This is what I expect to see in the distance traveled by the ramp cart as I add more weight:_________________________________
I expect the resting car to move in the following direction (describe): ________________________________________________
This is what I expect to see in the distance traveled by the resting cart as I add more weight to the ramp car:
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Ramp Cart Mass Ramp Carts Direction (away Ramp Carts Resting Carts Direction (away from Resting Carts
(g) from or toward point of impact) Distance (cm) or toward point of impact) Distance (cm)
0
50
100
150
200
250
50
100
150
200
250
Questions
1. Newtons 3rd Law states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. What is the action in this lab?
__________________What is the equal and opposite reaction? _____________________________
2. Do you agree that the resulting action was equal? Explain how you came to this conclusion.
3. Do you agree that the resulting action was opposite? Explain how you came to this conclusion.
4. Graph your results from both labs. The first graph should be a double line graph with mass on cart on the x-axis and distance
traveled on the y-axis. You will have one line showing the ramp cars data, and one showing the resting cars data. Your second
graph should be a double line graph.
Procedure
1. Make sure that you have 2 force sensors plugged into the Lab Pro box. Click collect and push and pull gently on the hooks for
the force sensor. Get a sense for which sensor gives which color on the graph, and what causes positive and negative graphs.
2. Attach a rubber band to the hook of each force
sensor.
3. Prediction: Put the force sensor down and consider
the following situation: Suppose that 2 force sensors
were connected to a single rubber band. If one
person pulled their force sensor while the other
person simply stood still, what would the resulting
graph look like? Pretend that the graph to the right
shows what the pullers graph will look like. What
will the other persons graph look like? Sketch it on
this graph.
4. Connect both force sensors to a single rubber
band. Make sure the rubber band has no tension
on it. Click Collect and have one person pull and
the other person stay still. Sketch the resulting
graph to the right.
Questions
1. Complete the following statement and use the words
magnitude (size) and direction in your response.
Whenever one object exerts a force on a second object, the second exerts a force on the first that is:
2. So in a real tug-of-war, Newtons 3rd Law says that as team one pulls on team two, that team two pulls back with an equal and
opposite force on the team one. Explain how this could be with writing and diagrams.
3. If #2 is true, how can anyone ever win at tug of war? Draw a stick figure that represents a tug of war participant. Complete a
force diagram for this person. What force allows a tug of war participant to win?
Ready to turn your packet in? You should have all questions completed in this packet (25 pts.). You should have attached to this
packet: