Acceleration of Free-Falling Masses

SPH 3U: Acceleration of Free-Falling Corey McCormick
Masses 09/14/03

Purpose: What effect does the mass of a free-falling object have on the object¡¦s acceleration?

Independent/Dependent Variables: The independent variable in this lab is the free-falling object¡¦s mass, while the dependent variable is the free-falling object¡¦s acceleration.

Hypothesis: If the mass of the free-falling object is doubled then the acceleration will be the same because everything falls at the same speed no matter its mass. A free-falling object can be defined as an object whose acceleration depends solely on the ¡§acceleration of gravity¡¨, which is measures at 9.8 m/s/s [downwards].

Materials:

„h Ticker Timer

„h x2 - Ticker Tape (~20 cm long)


„h x2 - A piece of scotch tape

„h 100g mass

„h 200g mass

„h School bag

„h A table


Procedure:
1. The ticker timer was plugged int...