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Harsh Patel

Lab Report
Mrs. Bryant
November 9, 2010

We did two labs that were a part of Newton’s second law. The purpose of the first lab
that we did was to find how a constant hanging mass effects acceleration of the cart with
different weights. Also the second lab’s purpose was to find how constant cart mass effects
acceleration is only the hanging mass changes. We had to try to find the acceleration of the cart
and the weight of the cart and the hanging mass. The materials we used were: a pulley, weights,

Fw
Ft
Fn
Fn = -Fw
.15
kg
Fnet=Ft

string, and a cart.

We had to find acceleration using the full body diagram by using this formula: a = F/m. F stands
for force applied, but in the lab it was the weight of the hanging mass only and the m stands for
the total amount of mass of the cart plus the hanging mass.

DATA TABLE FOR LAB 2


Mass
of
Cart Weight
and of Exp.
Mass Masse Total Hangin Calc. Accelerat
Hanging s Mass g Acceleration Distance Time1 Time2 ion
4.355 4.405 3.05 0.11
0.05 kg kg kg 0.5 N 0.114 m/s^2 0.56 m 3.3 sec sec m/s^2
4.255 4.405 0.179
0.15 kg kg kg 1.5 N 0.341 m/s^2 0.56 m 2.2 sec 2.5 sec m/s^2
4.155 4.405 0.44
0.25 kg kg kg 2.5 N 0.57 m/s^2 0.56 m 1.6 sec 1.6 sec m/s^2
4.055 4.405
0.35 kg kg kg 3.5 N 0.79 m/s^2 0.56 m 1.5 sec 1.5 sec 0.5 m/s^2

DATA TABLE FOR LAB 1


Mass of Weight
Cart of Exp.
and Mass Total Hangin Calc. Accelerat
Masses Hanging Mass g Acceleration Distance Time1 Time2 ion
4.705 1.81 2.15 0.319
4.555 kg .150 kg kg 1.5 N 0.3188 m/s^2 0.625 m sec sec m/s^2
4.205 1.89 1.89 0.35
4.055 kg .150 kg kg 1.5 N 0.3567 m/s^2 0.625 m sec sec m/s^2
3.705 1.44 1.58 0.55
3.555 kg .150 kg kg 1.5 N 0.4049 m/s^2 0.625 m sec sec m/s^2
3.205 1.57 1.59 0.501
3.055 kg .150 kg kg 1.5 N 0.4680 m/s^2 0.625 m sec sec m/s^2
2.705 1.26 1.23 0.806
2.555 kg .150 kg kg 1.5 N 0.5545 m/s^2 0.625 m sec sec m/s^2
2.205 1.25 1.13 0.88
2.055 kg .150 kg kg 1.5 N 0.6803 m/s^2 0.625 m sec sec m/s^2
1.705 1.22 1.19 0.86
1.555 kg .150 kg kg 1.5 N 0.8798 m/s^2 0.625 m sec sec m/s^2
1.205 1.00 0.95 1.314
1.055 kg .150 kg kg 1.5 N 1.2448 m/s^2 0.625 m sec sec m/s^2

(SAMPLE CALCULATIONS ARE ATTACHED)

GRAPH FOR LAB 2

SUMMARY

These two labs were about Newton’s second law, which states three things. First, this law
states that if you do place a force on an object, it will accelerate. Second, it states that
acceleration is directly proportional to the force. And lastly, it states that acceleration is inversely
proportional to the mass of the object. The relationship between mass and acceleration is that if
mass goes up, acceleration will go down (inversely related) and vice versa. This can be proven
by the two labs that we did. In the first lab, we increased the mass of the cart, the acceleration got
lower. Also we only change the mass of the cart and the hanging mass remained at a constant
mass. But in the second lab, we changed the mass of the hanging mass and changed the mass of
the cart accordingly, which caused a constant total mass. Also in this lab, as the cart mass
decreased, the acceleration increased. But in the second lab the total mass stayed the same and
the hanging mass increased, while acceleration increased. I think that the experimental
acceleration will be more accurate then the calculated acceleration because in the calculated one,
it does not include friction but the experimental one does. With friction included it can give u a
more a accurate measurement because friction will slow down the times and we cannot perfectly
include friction without the times. Some ways that we could have improved this lab was that we
should have mad e more timers for more accurate times. Or we could have used a motion
detector program to totally eliminate human error and get the most accurate acceleration and
times. Also another way the lab could have been better would be to totally eliminate friction,
which is impossible. In our first lab, we did not change hanging mass. But in the second lab, as
we increased the hanging mass it increased the acceleration. If the hanging mass (applied force)
increases and the total mass remained the same, then it the acceleration would definitely go up.

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