Picket fence free fall

In this experiment we tried to obtain a value for the Earth’s acceleration due to gravity,
using technology. The provided materials are : a picket fence, a photogate , a computer interface
and a laptop on which the data is interpreted.

The acceleration due to gravity(g) is the acceleration of objects in void in a gravitational

field which depends on the objects position towards the gravity center, representing the intensity
of the gravitational field in the respective place, g being numerical equal to the force with which
the mass unit is being attracted.It has been studied by Sir Isaac Newton, and on Earth, the normal
value at sea level and latitude 0 to 45​o​ is g​n​=9,80665m/s​2​.
Sir Isaac Newton was a famous english scientist , physicist, mathematician and
astronomer. He was very captivated by optics, but due to the insucces he had in this field ,he
quit, and started working on mechanics, where he made discoveries that marked the history of
physics.
In 1687​, Newton constitutes the three universal laws of motion(Newton’s Laws) , related
to repose and motion inertia and to the action-reaction principle. Newton uses for the first time
the latin term ​gravitas​(weight), for the analytical determination of the attraction forces, and he
defines the law of universal attraction.

In the first stage, the picket fence is being held above the photogate, which is connected
to a computer interface which is connected to a laptop.
Then the picket fence is released so that the photogate can register the speed variation of the
black stripes on the picket fence during the fall.
Then, the data appears on the laptop in the form of a graph, and after an analysis we can observe
a value of the acceleration due to gravity, proximate to 9.8 m/s​2​.
 Trial 1 2 3 4 5 6

Slope m/s​2 9.563 9.803 9.721 9.683 9.326 10.1132

Table 1.

Minimum Maximum Average

Acceleration(m/s​2​) 9.326 10.1132 9.701

Table 2.

Acceleration due to gravity, g 9.7±0.4 m/s​2

Precision 4%
Table 3.
“Figure 1” is a representation of the diagram with the esential materials of this experiment.
In “Table 1” are the values of the acceleration due to gravity we’ve obtained.
In “Table 2” minimum and maximum values of the acceleration due to gravity, then the average
value.
In “Table 3” are the precision and the average obtained value , with it’s erors...

Bibliography
● en.wikipedia.org
● scienceworld.wolfram.com
● www.physicsclassroom.com
● www.universetoday.com