University of Umm Al-Qura

Faculty of Applied Science

Department of Physics

A Report
Free Fall

Practical General physics 101

Code: 4031101 – 4

Student Name:

Academic #:

Group #:

Term #:

Academic Year: 144

1
 4 THE FREE FALL EXPERIMENT

4.1 Goal:
To determine the value of the free fall acceleration g of an object in free fall near the surface of the
Earth.

4.2 Apparatus and Accessories::

Millisecond timer, metal ball, trapdoor and electromagnet.

Figure 4.1: Apparatus for the free fall experiment.

4.3 Formula Used:

Formula Used:
The value of the free fall acceleration g of an object in free fall is given by:
=m

2 2
t2 = h y ← t2 = h→ x (4.1)
g g

h (m) : The height of the falling object, and g(m/s2 ) : The acceleration due to gravity.
 4.4 Theory:

4.4 Theory:
Newtons law of gravitation gives the force of attraction between
two masses. If the Earth were a uniform, non-rotating sphere,
Newtons law would give GM/R2 for the acceleration of a small
mass arriving at the Earths surface; G is the gravitational constant,
M is the Earths mass, and R is the Earths radius. But the Earth is
not spherical, its mass is not distributed uniformly, and it rotates;
in addition, a falling object may be at some altitude above the
ground. Any measurement of the acceleration g of a freely falling
object is affected by these factors, but we expect these to be smallFigure 4.2: Any object is a subject
to force F = mg toward Earth.
effects, and that g should be quite close to the customary value of
9.81 m/s2 .
A measurement of g can be based on the positions of a falling object at different times. Since the
motion is downward, let the y direction be positive downward. Assuming constant acceleration g due
to gravity, the vertical position h at a time t is
1
h(t) = h0 + v0 t + gt2
2
measured from the starting position h0 with an initial velocity v0 .
When the ball is dropped from rest (v0 = 0) and choosing the initial point as the zero point h0 = 0, we
have for h:
1
h(t) = gt2 (4.1)
2

3
 4.4 Theory:

Data
1 The first ball:

h (m) 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65 0.70

t1 (s) 0,70509321 0 364,351 9308
t2 (s)
0,305 9321937609351 0,308
t3 (s)
9,305 9318 3350 3540,387
0
tavg (s) 0,37593539307
0,305 9320
t2 (s2 ) g
y g g g

Calculations:

y –y 2
The slope: slope (m) = 2 1 = =( )=
x2 – x1 g
2
∴ g= = m/s2
m

Percent error:
|g – gref | | – 9.81|
P.E. = × 100% = × 100% = %.
gref 9.81

4
 4.4 Theory:

2 The second ball:

h (m) 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65 0.70

t1 (s) 0,309 093200,3350,350 8382
t2 (s) o 39 18 9736 o so 9302
t3 (s) 0,709 170 756093500,362
tavg (s) 9,303 918 00735 93500,362
t2 (s2 )

Calculations:
The slope:
y –y 2
m= 2 1 = =( )=
x2 – x1 g
2
g= = m/s2
m

Percent error:
|g – gref | | – 9.81|
P.E. = × 100% = × 100% = %.
gref 9.81

Comment on the result!.