Phys 124 Lab 2

1.

Graph 1: This is a graph of y position (m) on the y-axis vs. time on the x axis. The values were
derived from the Tracker app used during the experiment. Y position was found from height of
the mass, time was found relative to y position. The equation is y position = 2.1*x - 0.876.

Graph 2: This is a graph of velocity y (m/s) vs. time (s). The velocity values were derived from
the Tracker app. Time was found relative to the velocity. The equation is velocity y = -8.15*x +
0.473.
Graph 3: This is a graph with y position (m) vs. time^2/2 (s). This was done so that the equation
could be linearized. Y position was found from the height of the mass, and the time value was
squared then halved. The linearized equation is y position = -10.8*x + 0.742.

2.
𝑣𝑦 = 𝑣0, 𝑦 − 𝑔𝑡
𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑦 =− 8. 15 * 𝑥 + 0. 473
𝑣𝑦 = 0. 473 − 8. 15 * 𝑡
2
𝑔 = (8. 15 ± 0. 45) 𝑚/𝑠 (from LINEST)
The experimental value of g found from the velocity y and time^2/2 graph was g = (8.15 +- 0.45)
m/s^2. The theoretical value of g is g = 9.81 m/s^2. I think that this is very inaccurate, as the
experimental value is more than three error intervals off from the theoretical value.

3.
2
𝑦 = 𝑦0 − 𝑔 * (𝑡 /2)
𝑦 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = − 10. 8 * 𝑥 + 0. 742
2
𝑦 = 0. 742 − 10. 8 * (𝑡 /2)
2
𝑔 = (10. 8 ± 0. 2) 𝑚/𝑠 (from LINEST)
The experimental value of g found from linearizing the equation was g = (10.8 +- 0.2) m/s^2.
The theoretical value of g is 9.81 m/s^2. I think that this experiment had poor accuracy, as the
experimental value is more than 3 interval errors off from the theoretical value.
4. For my experiment, I did not use a ball but I used a small cylinder of plastic. I faced it so
it was horizontal to the camera, and determined that the center of mass should be
exactly in the middle. I think that this affected my experiment because when the mass hit
the ground, the origin was lined up with the bottom of the mass and not the center. This
probably had an impact on my y positional values.

5. I think that there are a couple things that can be done to make this experiment better
and the experimental value of g more accurate. The first thing is to use a slow motion
camera, which captures more frames/second. This will make tracking the mass much
easier and more accurate. Another thing that can be done is to create an environment
where there is a vacuum, and there will be no air resistance. Also, I could have done
more trials to be more precise.

6. References:
2022. Lab Manual PHYS 124. Edmonton: University of Alberta, Department of Physics.

Acknowledgements: None