Scribd
Upload
54 views

Spark Tape Lab

The document discusses using a ticker timer to measure the speed of moving objects. [1] A ticker timer makes marks on tape every 1/60th of a second to measure short intervals of time. [2] To calculate speed, the distance traveled is measured between marks and divided by the time as indicated by the number of spaces between marks. [3] Multiple examples are provided of using a ticker timer tape to determine the velocity of different intervals by measuring the distance traveled and time between marks.

Uploaded by

glencook
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
54 views

Spark Tape Lab

The document discusses using a ticker timer to measure the speed of moving objects. [1] A ticker timer makes marks on tape every 1/60th of a second to measure short intervals of time. [2] To calculate speed, the distance traveled is measured between marks and divided by the time as indicated by the number of spaces between marks. [3] Multiple examples are provided of using a ticker timer tape to determine the velocity of different intervals by measuring the distance traveled and time between marks.

Uploaded by

glencook
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

The ticker timer and speed

The ticker timer is simply a piece of apparatus that we use to measure time. When you work out
the speed of an object you need to know how far it goes in a certain time.

The distance is fairly easy to find, use a ruler, but if the object is moving quickly the time it takes
will be hard to measure.
The ticker timer makes dots on a paper tape
every sixtieth of a second. So if a piece of tape is
pulled through the timer for a second there will
be 60 dots on it.

Since the spaces between the dots take such a


short time (1/60 s) the ticker timer is a very
useful instrument for measuring short intervals
of time.

A piece of tape is shown in the diagram. The


faster the tape is pulled through the timer the
furthest apart the dots get. If the tape is pulled
through at a steady speed the dots remain the
same distance apart.

We have to be very careful here; as there is 1/60


s between dots we must count the number of SPACES and not the number of dots themselves.

To work out the velocity of the tape all we need to do is to measure the length of tape that goes
through in the time given by the number of spaces.
If you have a length of tape with 50 spaces then it took 50/50 s or 1s to go through the timer.
So if there are 6 spaces it took 6/60 = 1/10s.

A ticker timer makes a mark every 0.02 seconds. The total time can be determined by counting the
number of white spaces and multiplying by 0.02

The time for interval 1 = 4 x 0.02 = 0.08 s The time

for interval 2 = 3 x 0.02 = 0.06 s


The displacement can be measured by using a ruler to measure between the two dots.

Interval 1 is 9.5 cm long

Interval 2 is 7 cm long

The velocity of a section of ticker timer tape can be found by knowing the time and displacement and
applying the formula:

E.g.: Velocity using interval 1:

Velocity using interval 2:

We might expect the answers to be exactly the same as the distance between each of the dots is the
same indicating the velocity is constant. Due to slight errors in measuring with a ruler, the answers are
close, but not exact.

Pre Lab Instructions:

Determine the velocity of each of the spark tape images below.


Now that you have done these, you are ready for the lab. Use the apparatus to run a tape of a
freefalling object to record is displacement as a function of time. Be sure you are set up to run out of
tape before your mass hits the floor.

Use the tape to analyze the motion. Create a data table to include the following column headings.
Measure the distance between each third dot so that interval time is always 0.05 s and record this
distance as interval distance.

{I suggest using google sheets}

Cumulative
interval distance Interval velocity
Total time (t) distance acceleration (a)
(xinterval) (vinterval)
(xcumulative)

You might also like