Name : Shreena Binti Ahmad Adnan

Class : 4 Science 3

Experiment 2.3 : Relationship between the acceleration and the mass of an

object under a constant force.

Hypothesis
When the force applied is constant, the acceleration of an object decreases when its
mass increases.

Aim
To study the effect of mass of an object on its acceleration if the applied force is
constant.
Variables
a) Manipulated : Mass, m
b) Responding : Acceleration, a
c) Constant : Applied force, F
Apparatus
12 V a.c power supply, ticker timer, three elastic cords, trolley, plane, wooden block
and cellophane tape.

Materials
Ticker tape , three elastic cords and cellophane tape.

Diagram

Procedure
1. Apparatus is set up as shown in the diagram
2. A ticker-tape is attached to the trolley and passed through the ticker-timer
.
3. The ticker-timer is switched on and 1 trolley which weighs 0.2kg is pulled down
the inclined runway with an elastic band attached to the hind post of the trolley.
4. The elastic band must be stretched to a fix length that is maintained throughout
the motion down the runway.
5. When the trolley reaches the end of the runway, the ticker-timer is switched off
and the ticker tape is removed.
6. Starting from a clearly printed dot, the ticker tape is divided into strips with each
strip containing 10 ticks.
7. A ticker tape chart is constructed, and from the chart, the acceleration of the
trolley is calculated.
8. The experiment is repeated using trolleys which weighs 0.4kg, 0.6kg, 0.8kg and
1.0 kg. The elastic band must be stretched to the same fixed length as in step 4.

Result

1
m

Mass of trolley, m
(kg)
1 trolley

0.2

5.00

2 trolleys

0.4

2.50

3 trolleys

0.6

1.60

4 trolleys

0.8

1.25

5 trolleys

1.0

1.00

Acceleration, a (m s -2)

Analysis
A graph of

1
m

is shown.

a (m s-2)

1
m

( kg-1)

From the graph, it shows that a is directly propotional to

1
m .

Conclusion
The acceleration of an object decrease when the mass increases. Hypothesis is
proven.