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Alison Whitney Sept. 22, 2023
Group Members: Rook Bergeron
Background: Gravity is understood to be the attractive force between two objects with masses. Existing on an object as large as the Earth, there is a substantial gravitational pull that keeps all objects on the surface of the planet, being drawn to the core. It also controls the orbital patterns of the Earth around the sun and the moon around the Earth. For humans and the objects on our scale of perseption, gravity is often felt acting on falling objects. Gravity results in an accelaration for falling objects of -9.8 m/s^2 in the y-direction, or perpendicular to the surface of the Earth.
There are two types of falling objects; free-falling objects and projectiles. Free-falling objects have no velocity in the x-direction as they are only falling straight down towards the surface of the Earth. Projectiles are thrown outwards, meaning that they have a velocity in both the x and y-directions. The purpose of this study is to examine the accelaration of a free-falling object and a projectile to ascertain if the force of gravity is acting on both objects in the same way. For this to be true, both objects should have an accelaration of -9.8 m/s^s in the y-direction.
Methods:
Method 1 - 1. A blue bouncy ball was held 2m above the ground, using a 2m stick as a reference point.
2. The ball was released on the count of 3.
3. The time from when the ball was released to when the ball hit the ground was timed using the timing function on a phone.
Method 2 - 1. A blue bouncy ball was held 2m above the ground, using a 2m stick as a reference point.
2. A second 2m stick was set on the ground extending outwards from the base of the vertical 2m stick.
3. The ball thrown outwards on the count of 3, aiming towards the 50 cm mark on the horizontal 2m stick.
4. The time from when the ball was released to when the ball hit the ground was timed using the timing function on a phone, and the approximate location the ball hit the ground was monitored and recorded.
Equations:
Velocity = Change in Distance / Change in Time
Accelaration = (Final Velocity - Initial Velocity) / Change in Time
Method 1 - Raw Data
Method 1 - Raw Data
Method 2 - Raw Data
Method 2 - Raw Data
Results:
Method 1 Average Accelaration = -10.48 m/s^2 Average Velocity in the X - Direction = 0 m/s
Method 2 Average Accelaration = -10.78 m/s^2 Average Velocity in the X - Direction = 1.26 m/s
10% Acceleration of Gravity Range = -8.82 to -10.78 m/s^2
Discussion: The results of this lab determined that the accelaration of gravity is -9.8 m/2^s regardless of the velocity in the x-direction. When there was no velocity in the x-direction, the accelaration was found to be -10.48 m/s^2, within 10% of the known value for the accelaration of gravity. When there was a velocity of 1.26 m/s in the x-direction, the accelaration was determined to be -10.78 m/s^2, also within 10% of the known value for the accelaration of gravity. Therefore, regardless of any horizontal movements, only gravity controls the accelaration of falling objects, whether they are free-falling or projectiles. These results have larger implications in that they show that movement in the y-direction is separate from movement in the x-direction. This includes variables such as the change in location, velocity, and accelaration. Only the variable time overlaps between the x and y directions. This knowledge is one of the core concepts that shapes how scientists approach studying multi-dimensional movement, and it describes how humans and objects interact with the Earth.
Error: During the first series of trials, the reaction time during the timing process was too slow as the average accelaration for method 1 was measured at -6.56 m/s^2 and method 2 was measured at -5.35 m/s^2. The trials were then rerun with extra attention on decreasing the reaction time and the second attempt yielded results that had an average within 10% of the known accelaration of gravity.
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