FreeFall

Objective:Thepurposeofthisexperimentistoprovethat accelerationisconstantduetogravity,whenaballisdropped.As well,beabletocalculatetheresultingaccelerationandvelocity fromdroppingtheball. Background:Theconceptthatneedstobeunderstoodbeforeconducting suchexperimentisfreefall.Ifanobjectisdroppedanywhere,with theabsenceofairresistance,objectswillfallunderthesame constantacceleration,whichisg=9.8m/s2duetogravity.Withthis knowledge,velocity,distanceandtimecanbecalculatedfromafree fallingobject,withtheuseofthisequation. y = y0 + v0t + 12gt2 (eq.1)

Inthisequation,yistheverticalposition,y0isinitialvertical position,v0isinitialvelocity,tistime,andgistheacceleration duetogravity. Thefunctionofvelocityis v=yt (eq.2)

Inthisequationyisthechangeofverticalposition,andtisthe changeoftime. Thefunctionofaccelerationis a=vt (eq.3)

Inthisequationvisthechangeofvelocity,andtisthechangeof time. Procedure:Usingabasketball,wewillobservefreefall,usingData Studioandthemotionsensor.Firstwithmetersticks,create boundariesinwhichthebasketballcannotescapewhenitfalls.With motionsensorinplace,holdtheballacouplecentimetersdirectly underthemotionsensor,andthendrop.Allowtheballtodropand bounce,inhopetorecordaroundtenbouncesfromthebasketball, repeatuntilsoachieved.ThisdatawillallberecordedbyData Studiowhenstartingit.Usethisinformationtocalculatethe resultingvelocityandaccelerationofthebasketball,throughtheuse ofExcel.

Data:
Time (s) 0.8555 0.875 0.8946 0.9141 0.9337 0.9533 0.973 0.9926 1.0123 1.032 1.0517 1.0715 1.0912 1.111 1.1308 1.1507 1.1705 1.1904 1.2103 1.2302 1.2502 Position(m ) 0.645 0.598 0.553 0.513 0.475 0.443 0.415 0.39 0.367 0.35 0.336 0.327 0.321 0.319 0.321 0.326 0.336 0.349 0.368 0.39 0.413

(Table1)

Graph

AnalysisforGraph1:Thegraphdepictsthebounceofthebasketball fromthefloormovingtowardsthesensoranditspathtowardsthe flooragain,asanalyzed,whenthepointsarepositive,themovement oftheballisupwardsandviceversa.Thisgraphisasemiparabola inrelationshiptotheequation1 y=y0+ v0t+12gt2.Thisequationisa parametricequationwithapoweroftwo,explainingwhythe experimentalpositionvs.timegraphisasemiparabola.Theoretically thegraphshouldbeafullparabola,howevertoexperimentally representso,thedatasetsoftheballmovingawayfromthesensor shouldbeaswellincluded.
Time 0.8555 0.875 0.8946 0.9141 Velocity -2.41026 -2.29592 -2.05128 -1.93878

0.9337 0.9533 0.973 0.9926 1.0123 1.032 1.0517 1.0715 1.0912 1.111 1.1308 1.1507 1.1705 1.1904 1.2103 1.2302

-1.63265 -1.42132 -1.27551 -1.16751 -0.86294 -0.71066 -0.45455 -0.30457 -0.10101 0.10101 0.251256 0.505051 0.653266 0.954774 1.105528 1.15

(Table2)

(Graph2) AnalysisofGraph2Tographthedatasetforvelocityvs.time, equation2v=ytwasused.Theexperimentalgraphofvelocityvs. timeisnotconstant,howeveritisincreasingvelocity.Thenegative velocitydisplayedisthevelocityoftheballwhenmovingtowardsthe sensor,andthepositivevelocityofthegraphisthemotionofthe balltowardstheflooragain,almostcompletingafullbounce.The velocityintheexperimentalgraphisincreasingataconstantrate, meaningtheaccelerationwouldbeconstant,achievingfreefall.The linearregressionofthisgraphgaveusthecoefficientvalueforthe slope.Theequationforslopeis:y=mx+b,mbeingtheslope,andb beingtheyintercept.Thesearethevaluesforthelinearregression:
Regression Statistics Multiple R 0.999074601 R Square 0.998150059 Adjusted R Square 0.998047284 Standard Error 0.051098735 Observations 20 ANOVA df Regression Residual Total 1 18 19 SS 25.3589142 9 0.04699945 3 25.4059137 4

Coefficients Intercept X Variable 1 -10.9148072 9.901463826

Standard Error 0.10533527 1 0.10047181

(Data1) Thecoefficientforthexvariable(slope)isrepresentedas9.90.As mentionedearlier,thevelocityincreasesataconstantrate indicatingconstantacceleration.Theslopeofthevelocityis9.90, whichtranslatestotheaccelerationoftheball.Theacceptedvalue ofaccelerationis9.8m/s2,andtheexperimentalvalueis9.90.1 m/s2,avalueexacttotheacceptedmeaningtheballisinfactunder gravitationalacceleration.

(Table3)

(Graph3) AnalysisofGraph3Freefallisdefinedtobeunderconstant gravitationalacceleration.Thetheoreticalgraphofacceleration representsahorizontalconstantline.Intheexperimentalgraph,it isobservedtobesomewhatconstant,withaslightdecliningslope.It isalsoapparentinthegraphthattherearemanyanomalies,asthe constantdoesnotexactlymatch9.8m/s2.Howeverthegraphdoes

representacceleration.Duetoerrorsinconductingthelab,would explaintheclosefiguretogravitationalacceleration.Overallthe graphsupportsthetheorythataccelerationisconstant,howeverin thelab,therewasroomforerror. Moredatasetswerecollectedforeach10bounces,foreverytimethe ballwasintheair.Thisrepresentsthevelocitycurve,asthrough DataStudiotheslopeandtheuncertaintywasdiscoveredforthe bounces. Numberof Bounces 1stbounce 2ndbounce 3rdbounce 4thbounce 5thbounce 6thbounce 7thbounce 8thbounce 9thbounce 10thbounce Average Standard Deviation Velocity curve(g) 12.9 9.9 10.1 8.31 9.46 9.87 7.73 9.66 7.01 9.86 9.48 1.602733776

(Table4) Theaverageofthevelocitycurverepresentstheaccelerationinthe overallexperiment.Theexperimentalvalueis9.48m/s2comparedtothe theoreticalvalue9.8m/s2.Thiscanyetagainbeexplainedbyany errorsthatoccurredinthelab.Theexperimentalvalueofthislab was2fromtheacceptedvalue,whichaccountsforafairlylarge roomoferror.Thevariationofthevelocitycurvevaluesshowthat therewasnotrendinthereboundheightofeachbounce,butinfact random. Conclusion: Thisexperimentwasconductedinordertoprovewhetherfreefallhas aconstantgravitationalacceleration.Fromwhatwasobservedinlab, itcanbetrulystatedthatitdoesindeedconstantlyaccelerate. Althoughthecalculatedgdeviatedslightlyfromtheacceptedvalue, thetrendsoftheexperimentwouldprovethatconstantacceleration exists.Theerrorthatoccurredinthislabcouldhavebeenbythe poorsetupoftheexperiment,astherewasmuchroomforthe basketballtoescapewitheachbounce.Fourrulesweresetuptokeep itwithinsensorrange;howeverthoserulerscouldhaveimpactedthe bouncesifitweretocollide.Anothererrorcouldbeseenifthe sensorwasnotaccuratelycalibrated,thusnottakingproperreadings.

Overalltheexperimentwasfairlysuccessfully,withroomforerroras itishardtomaintainaperfectenvironmentforthisexperimentto completelyoccur.