October 19th, 2014

TA: Andrei Catuneanu

Khadijah Jabari
1000817583

Writing Assignment

Experiment: Perform this experiment. Put a piece of paper on a table. Place a quarter on the
paper. Hold the left and right edges of the paper with your left and right hands respectively. Lift
the paper and quarter from the table and hold them stationary.

Prior Knowledge:
When the paper and quarter are in contact with the table there are two forces acting upon it; one
being contact force (the paper and the table) and gravity.

Observations
As the paper is lifted (if done with a relaxed hand) the paper begins to cave inwards, the quarter
being at the lowest point of the paper.

Explanation
When the quarter is placed on the paper, mass is being added to one spot on that paper. As it is
being lifted off of the table, the contact force holding it in place is no longer in affect. The only
prevalent force at this time would be Gravity.
Gravity works stronger on things with a greater mass, therefore the area where the quarter lies is
subject to a stronger gravitational force pulling it back towards the table.
This can
be supported with the formula for the force of gravity.
We know that the mass of the quarter is greater than the
mass of the paper, therefore the scientific explanation for the
paper caving inwards is because the force of gravity is
stronger where the mass is greater (where the quarter lays).