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Acceleration Lab - PS

The lab investigates how the angle of an incline affects the velocity and acceleration of a rolling object. Students will set up an inclined plane, measure velocities using photogate sensors, and calculate average acceleration for different incline angles. The experiment includes multiple trials and concludes with questions on the impact of slope and mass on motion.

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jlee
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4 views

Acceleration Lab - PS

The lab investigates how the angle of an incline affects the velocity and acceleration of a rolling object. Students will set up an inclined plane, measure velocities using photogate sensors, and calculate average acceleration for different incline angles. The experiment includes multiple trials and concludes with questions on the impact of slope and mass on motion.

Uploaded by

jlee
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Name ________________________________________ Date _________________________ Period ______

Lab: Velocity and Acceleration


Problem: How does changing the angle of an incline influence the velocity and acceleration of an
object rolling down it?

Materials:
Inclined Plane (PASCO 2m track) Vernier LabQuest Interface
PASCO Pole Car Ring Stand
PASCO Photogate Sensors (2)

Procedure:
1. Set up an inclined plane and measure angle or height above the horizon.
2. Set up two photogate sensors exactly 2 m apart. We will be measuring the acceleration of our car
between these two sensors.
3. Position your rolling object at the top of the inclined plane and press PLAY on the LabQuest
Sensor. The interface will record the velocity of the car at each sensor and the time it took the car
to pass from one sensor to the other.
4. Repeat step three to obtain a second trial.
5. Calculate average acceleration of your object down the incline by using the formula

acceleration = ( Velocityfinal - Velocityinitial )


-----------------------------------
time
6. Repeat steps two through four for your object – but change the angle of the incline for tables two and
three.
7. Complete the calculation for acceleration and make a graph of one of your two trials for each height
measured.
Table 1
Trial 1 Trial 2 Vi =
Vf =
t=
Velocity (initial) a=

Velocity (final)

Vi =
Vf =
Time (s)
t=
a=

Average Acceleration (m/s2)

Table 2
Trial 1 Trial 2 Vi =
Vf =
t=
Velocity (initial) a=

Velocity (final)

Vi =
Vf =
Time (s)
t=
a=

Average Acceleration (m/s2)

Table 3
Trial 1 Trial 2 Vi =
Vf =
t=
Velocity (initial) a=

Velocity (final)

Vi =
Vf =
Time (s)
t=
a=

Average Acceleration (m/s2)

2 2

1 1
Velocit Velocit
1 1

5 5

0 0
0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4
Time (s) Time (s)
4

3
Conclusion Questions:

1) How did changing the slope of the incline change your velocity and acceleration values?

2) What effect do you think increasing the mass would have on the velocity and acceleration of an object? How
could you test this?

3) Why was it important to do multiple trials of this activity?

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