Core Practical on 2nd Newton’s Law: Investigating how acceleration changes

with mass

Instructions
A. Prop up one end of the ramp and place a trolley on it. Adjust the slope of
the ramp until the trolley runs down the slope at a constant speed after being
given an initial nudge. The force down the slope is now equal to the friction in
the trolley's wheels.

B Stick a piece of card to the top of the trolley using sticky putty. Leave enough
space to stack some masses on top of the trolley. Measure the length of the
card and write it down.

C. Find the mass of the trolley and write it down.

D. Put a mass on the end of the string. Make sure there is a plastic tray at the
bottom of the table that collects the mass falling. You will keep this mass the
same for all your tests.

E. Release the trolley from the top of the ramp. Make sure you STOP the trolley
BEFORE it would hit the Pulley.

F. Write down the speed of the trolley and time (from the data logger) as it
passes through each light gate. Write them in the table

G. Repeat the experiment one or two more times.

H. Add one mass to the trolley using blue tack and repeat the experiment from
point E.
Completing the Write Up
Method

 Identify the Variables (Independent variable? Dependent Variable? One Control variable?)
 What range of the independent variable will you consider? (Minimum value – Maximum
value)
 What do you expect to be the outcome of the experiment? Justify your statement by
referring to the appropriate Newton’s law and physics.
 Draw a diagram of your experiment. Label the parts in the diagram.
 Explain how the datalogger is able to calculate the velocity of the trolley.
 Why is it necessary to put the ramp at a slight angle? Refer to counteracting forces and
acceleration.

Results

 Report all your raw measurements (Mass of the trolley; Length of the Interrupt card)
 Take at least 5 different measurements of accelerations (with 5 different masses)
 For each mass (measurement), repeat the readings of velocity and time at least TWICE and
calculate acceleration for both readings. Calculate the AVERAGE acceleration for both
readings
 Put data in a table with same number of decimal place (3 s.f.): make sure they include mass,
velocities, times, acceleration and average acceleration

Graph

 Draw a graph making sure that:

 It has the correct orientation with labelled axes (independent variable on which axis?)
 Sensible scale
 Line of Best fit is smooth and not broken line
 Graph takes more than half-page (readable)
 Points are accurately plotted

Conclusion

 State the relationship between mass and acceleration by looking at the graph.
 Use evidence (refer to data) to describe the findings.
 State whether the results match your predictions
 Explain the results in terms of Newton’s 2nd Law.

Evaluation Questions

 How close are the points on your graph to the line of best fit?
 What does this tell you about the quality of the data that you have collected?
 How do your results compare to the results obtained by other groups?
 How certain are you that your conclusion is correct? Explain your answer.