No.

1
Acceleration in uniformly increasing linear motion
Newton's Law II

I. Objectives
To measure the acceleration in uniformly accelerated linear motion and check Newton's Law
II using an air track.
II. Apparatus
 Glider with a light guard,
 Air track, air pumps,
 A time recorder with digital screen,
 Photogates with holding magnets.
 Weights and Silk threads.

Figure 1
III. Theory
1. Acceleration
The acceleration of a particle in uniformly accelerated linear motion:
v
a . (1)
t
It also has the form:
v22  v12
a . (2)
2s
Here, v1 and v2 are the speeds of the particle at t1 and t2, respectively; s is the distance that the
particle moves in the time interval t = t2 – t1.
2. Newton’s Law II
The formula of Newton’s Law II:
F
a (3)
m
Consider a mechanical system as shown in Fig. 2. m1 and m2 are connected each other by a
inelastic silk thread, which has a negligible mass. m1 slips without friction in the horizontal
plane.

m1 N 1


P1

m2


P2

Figure 2

According to the Newton’s law II, we have:

(4)
In the motion direction, we have:
. (5)
 If the mass of the system, m1 + m2, is constant and m2 is doubled, we have:
a’ = (6)

IV. Experiment

Figure 3

1. Prepare:
Connect the air pump to the air track. The air track must be horizontal so that the glider does
not move when the net force exerting on it is zero. Adjust the balance of the air track by three
screws in its legs. Adjust the photogates to be perpendicular to the air track. Photogates must be
connected to the ports E and F of the time recorder.
In this experiment, students use a glider with the mass of 100g and three 1-g weights.

2. Process:
Set up the experiment as Fig. 3:
a. Turn on the air pump. Check the balance of glider. If the glider is not in balance, adjust
screws in the air track.
b. Adjust the distance between two photogates s to be 70 cm.
c. Turn on the time recorder, select the mode tE,F. Push the button Stop to reset the time
recorder.
d. Use the glider for m1 and three 1-g weights for m2. First, determine the time intervals tE
and tF when the glider passes through the photogates E and F, respectively. Then,
calculate the speeds vE and vF of the glider when it passes through the photogate E and F,
respectively, using the following equation:
l
vi  (7)
ti
here, l is the width of the light guard attached to the glider. Then, calculate the
acceleration of the system using Eq. (2).
e. Transfer one 1-g weight from m2 to the glider, determine the acceleration of the system as
 in step d.
f. Transfer another 1-g weight from m2 to the glider, determine the acceleration of the
system as in step d.

V. Calculation:
- The accuracy of time recorder ……………….. (s)
- The accuracy of measuring ruler …………….. (s)
- The acceleration of gravity ………………..…. (m/s2)
- Distance between photogates …..……………. (m)

1. Table 1:
m2 (g) m1 (g) Order tE (s) tF(s) vE (m/s) vF(m/s) a(m/s2)
1
2
3 100
3
Average
1
2
2 101
3
Average
1
2
1 102
3
Average

2. Calculate:
 Calculate the acceleration using the formula: = …………. (m/s2)
 Calculate the average ERR of the acceleration:
a 2(v F v F  v E v E ) s
     .......... ..
a v F2  v E2 s
 Calculate the absolute ERR of the acceleration:
…. (m/s2)
 The acceleration of the system:
a  a  a
 Calculate the acceleration of system using the formula:
3. Results:
 The acceleration of the system with m1 = 100 g, m2 = 3 g:
a1 = ……± …. (m/s2)
 The acceleration of the system with m1 = 101 g, m2 = 2 g:
a2 = ……± …. (m/s2)
 The acceleration of the system with m1 = 102 g, m2 = 1 g:
a3 = ……± …. (m/s2)

4. Conclusions:
a. Compare the acceleration determined in the experiments with the one calculated using
Eq. (5).
b. Conclusion