Physics 2230

Experiment #5 – Newton’s Second Law

Name: Kate Davis

Date: February 24, 2015
Object: To study Newton’s Second Law of Motion by applying several amounts of
force to a block of wood and observing the resulting acceleration.

340 g 360 g
t t
t1 t3 avg t^2 avg t^2
x (cm) (s) t2(s) (s) (s) (s^2) x (cm) t1 (s) t2(s) t3 (s) (s) (s^2)
10 0.40 0.39 0.38 0.39 0.15 10 0.37 0.36 0.35 0.36 0.13
20 0.59 0.58 0.59 0.59 0.34 20 0.42 0.4 0.41 0.41 0.17
30 0.79 0.80 0.82 0.80 0.65 30 0.68 0.67 0.67 0.67 0.45
40 0.96 0.96 0.95 0.96 0.92 40 0.87 0.88 0.88 0.88 0.77
50 1.08 1.07 1.08 1.08 1.16 50 1.04 1.03 1.00 1.02 1.05
60 1.21 1.19 1.20 1.20 1.44 60 1.13 1.12 1.10 1.12 1.25
70 1.29 1.26 1.30 1.28 1.65 70 1.20 1.19 1.20 1.20 1.43
300 g 320 g
t
t1 t avg t^2 t3 avg t^2
x (cm) (s) t2(s) t3 (s) (s) (s^2) x (cm) t1 (s) t2(s) (s) (s) (s^2)
10 0.50 0.51 0.51 0.51 0.26 10 0.47 0.46 0.47 0.47 0.22
20 0.72 0.69 0.69 0.70 0.49 20 0.68 0.66 0.67 0.67 0.45
30 0.99 1.03 1.00 1.01 1.01 30 0.91 0.88 0.90 0.90 0.80
40 1.15 1.17 1.15 1.16 1.34 40 1.09 1.09 1.08 1.09 1.18
50 1.24 1.26 1.27 1.26 1.58 50 1.18 1.17 1.18 1.18 1.38
60 1.56 1.55 1.54 1.55 2.40 60 1.43 1.44 1.42 1.43 2.04
70 1.60 1.72 1.68 1.67 2.78 70 1.52 1.53 1.53 1.53 2.33
Data & Results:

Newton's Second Law -- Distance vs. Time (s^2)

80 2 2
300g x = (26.896cm/s )t
Mass 2
70 R = 0.9357
2 2
x = (31.662cm/s )t
60 320g 2
Mass R = 0.948
2 2
50 x = (43.056cm/s )t
340g 2
Mass R = 0.9826
x (cm)

40
2 2
360g
x = (49.864cm/s )t
30 2
Mass R = 0.9226

20

10

0
0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00
t^2 (s^2)
 String Tension vs. Acceleration

2.65
F = (0.606 kg ± 0.00218 kg)a + 2.0 N ± 0.0017 N
R2 = 1
2.6

2.55

2.5
F (N)

2.45

2.4

2.35

2.3
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
a (m/s^2)

mg F (N) acc (m/s^2)

300 2.325 0.53790
320 2.383 0.63320
340 2.522 0.86112
360 2.603 0.99730
Calculations:
F= ma + fk
e.g.
F = (0.6056 kg)(0.53792 m/s2) + 2.0 N
F = 2.325 N

Conclusion/Discussion:
F = ma + fk
What was expected: The graph of distance vs. s2 was expected to be a straight
line (R=1), with a slope of ½a, and a y-intercept of 0. As the mass on the pulley
increased, the acceleration was expected to increase.
For the second graph of force vs. acceleration, the line was expected to be
straight with a slope = mass (kg).
The first graph had R2 values of 0.9357, 0.948, 0.9826, 0.9226. The second
graph was a straight line (R2 = 1). The mass of the sled was found to be 0.6056
kg, which was close to the slope (0.606 kg). The kinetic friction was found to be
2.0 using the spring scale, the y-intercept was approximately 2.0.