Experiment 3

UNIFORMLY ACCELERATED MOTION USING TICKER-TAPE TIMER

OBJECTIVES

1. To study the motion of a body moving along an inclined plane

2. To calculate the uniform acceleration of the body from the obtained data.
3. To determine the acceleration from the slope of the speed–time curve.

MATERIALS

Ticker – tape timer, Paper tape, Inclined plane, Wooden cart, Meterstick, Jacky table

THEORY

Velocity is speed with a specific direction. It seldom happens that the velocity of a
moving body is constant since in most cases the velocity changes from time to time.
Motion in which the velocity change is called accelerated motion. Acceleration is the
rate of change of velocity.

𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦
𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 =
𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒

∆𝒗
𝒂 =
∆𝒕
When only the speed changes by a constant amount without a change in the direction of
motion, the body is said to be undergoing uniformly – accelerated motion.

PROCEDURE

1. Incline the plane using a small angle of inclination as in Figure 3 or as your

instructor prescribes. Set up the rest of the materials as shown in the figure
below. The paper tape is attached to one end of the cart and inserted between
the clapper and the carbon paper disk.

timer fastened
by clamp

metal or wooden cart

paper tape inclined plane

Figure 3
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 2. Start the timer and release the cart. Stop the cart as it reaches the lower end of
the incline. Don’t ever let the cart fall on the floor. At the same instant, turn
off the timer.
3. Mark the first distinct dot and label it zero (0). From the second dot, count off
the dots on the paper tape and mark every fifth dot 1, 2, 3, etc. Measure the total
distance (in centimeters) between the zero mark and every succeeding mark and
enter your data in the second column of Table 1.
4. Calculate the distance traveled during each time interval (a time interval is
equivalent to five dots) by getting the difference between two successive total
distances.
5. Calculate the average speed during each time interval in cm/dot by dividing the
distance traveled during each interval by 5 dots. The 5 – dot count constitutes a
time interval in dots.
6. Calculate the acceleration in cm/dot2 by dividing the difference between two
successive speeds by 5 dots.
7. Record your data in the respective columns of table 1. Make another trial and
record your data in table 2.

GRAPHS
Make three graphs for each trial. Use the time as the abscissa for the six graphs.

1. Plot total distance against total time. Trace a smooth curve.

2. Plot average speed during each time interval against the midpoint of the time
interval. Draw the average straight line. Determine the slope of the line.
Compare the slope with the computed average acceleration and determine the
percentage difference.
3. Plot the acceleration against the time interval. Approximate the best graph
from the plotted points.
4. Write the interpretation of each graph below it.

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Name: Date:
Course, Year, & Section: Group No.:

Experiment 3
UNIFORMLY ACCELERATED MOTION USING TICKER-TAPE TIMER

Table 1
First Trial
Total Distance Average Speed
Total Time
time traveled during during each
distance interval Acceleration
(dots) each time time interval
(cm) (5 dots) (cm/dot2)
Interval (cm) (cm/dot)
5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

Average acceleration = _____________ cm/dot2

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Table 2
Second Trial
Distance Average
Total
Total traveled Speed
time Time interval
distance during each during each Acceleration
(dots) (5 dots)
(cm) time Interval time interval (cm/dot2)
(cm) (cm/dot)

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

Average acceleration = _____________ cm/dot2

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CONCLUSION

QUESTIONS

1. What is the difference between speed and velocity?

2. What do you understand by an acceleration of +2m/s2? Of – 2 m/s2?

3. How could the experiment be modified to study the acceleration of a freely–

falling body?

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