Student 1 of 2

Practical 1 Determination of speed and acceleration

Purpose Safety

The aim of this experiment is to measure the Set up this experiment away from the edges
speed and acceleration of an object – in this of the bench so that the trolley will come to a
case a laboratory trolley. stop on the bench.

You will need:

• Trolley • Two light gates
• Stopwatch • Data logger PC
• Ruler • Blocks for tilting runway
• Runway • Mask (for Method 2)

Experimental instructions
Method 1 – traditional approach using a ruler and a stopwatch
Set up the apparatus as shown in figure 1 and then tilt the runway at about 15º, although
this is not critical. However, the angle should be the same for both method 1 and method 2.

Release the trolley at the top of the ramp, start the stopwatch and record the time the trolley
takes to move 1 m down the ramp.

Figure 1: The traditional approach

Analysis and conclusion

Calculate the average speed of the trolley over the 1 m distance (use average speed = –ts ).

Calculate the acceleration of the trolley between the 0 and 1.0 m mark.
The average speed over 1 m is known and therefore the final speed (v) over the 1 m
section can be found. This assumes uniform acceleration. The initial speed (u) is zero.
Calculate the acceleration (a) from a = v t– u where t is the time taken to travel between
0 and 1 m.

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