College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics Dr. Dorra Turki

 Objectives
 To investigate the relation between mass and

acceleration.

 To verify experimentally Newton’s second law.

 To measure the value of the acceleration produced

by applying a force to a cart theoretically and

experimentally.

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics Dr. Dorra Turki
 Background
Force: is a push or pull acting upon an object as
a result of its interaction with another object.
Contact Forces:
involve physical contact between
two objects.

Field Forces doesn’t involve physical contact between two objects

College of Arts and Sciences
Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics Dr. Dorra Turki
 Background
Mass and Weight
 Mass is the amount of matter in an object, and doesn’t
depend on location. 𝒎𝒎
 Weight is a measure of how strongly gravity pulls on
that matter. 𝑾𝑾𝑾𝑾𝑾𝑾𝑾𝑾𝑾𝑾𝑾𝑾 = 𝒎𝒎 ∗ 𝒈𝒈

 Weight vary with location, but mass remain constant.

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics Dr. Dorra Turki
 Definition

Newton’s Second Law

The acceleration produced of an object is directly

proportional to the sum of the forces applied on that
object, and is inversely proportional to the mass of
that object.
� 𝑭𝑭 = 𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics Dr. Dorra Turki
 Background
Mass and Acceleration

 Acceleration depends on the mass being pushed

𝒎𝒎𝟐𝟐 𝒂𝒂𝟏𝟏
m1 a1 = m2 a2 =
𝒎𝒎𝟏𝟏 𝒂𝒂𝟐𝟐

 Greater the mass, the less the acceleration.

 Greater the acceleration, smaller the mass.

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics Dr. Dorra Turki
 How to evaluate Newton’s
second law experimentally?

� 𝑭𝑭 = 𝒎𝒎𝟏𝟏𝒂𝒂 � 𝑭𝑭 = 𝒎𝒎𝟐𝟐𝒂𝒂

Along x axis: ? Along x axis: ?

Along y axis:? Along y axis:?

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics Dr. Dorra Turki
 How to evaluate Newton’s
second law experimentally?

 You will attach a mass to the cart with a string

that passes over a freely moving pulley.

 Gravity acts on mass m2

with a force 𝑭𝑭 = 𝒎𝒎𝟐𝟐𝒈𝒈.

 That force then accelerates both m2 and m1.

 The mass of the string may be neglected here.

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics Dr. Dorra Turki
 Equation
 Consequently, the acceleration of the cart (and the small mass
m2) is the ratio of the applied force to the total mass:

𝑭𝑭𝒈𝒈 − 𝑭𝑭𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇
𝒂𝒂 =
𝒎𝒎𝟏𝟏 + 𝒎𝒎𝟐𝟐

 The mass of the string and the friction force are small
enough that we can safely ignore them.
Thus the gravity force 𝑭𝑭 = 𝒎𝒎𝟐𝟐𝒈𝒈 is the net force.

𝒎𝒎𝟐𝟐𝒈𝒈
𝒂𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕 =
𝒎𝒎𝟏𝟏 + 𝒎𝒎𝟐𝟐
College of Arts and Sciences
Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics Dr. Dorra Turki
 Calculation based on theory

1. Measure the mass m1

2. Measure the mass m2

3. Using the formula Calculate ath

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics Dr. Dorra Turki
 How to evaluate Newton’s
second law experimentally?
 In this experiment you will apply a force to a cart on
a linear air track and measure its acceleration.
 We choose the air track because its friction forces are
so small that they can be ignored.

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics Dr. Dorra Turki
 Equation
 Determination of the acceleration experimentally
𝟏𝟏 𝟐𝟐
∆𝒙𝒙 = 𝒗𝒗𝒐𝒐 𝒕𝒕 + 𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂
𝟐𝟐
∆𝒙𝒙 𝟏𝟏
= 𝒗𝒗𝒐𝒐 + 𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂 𝒗𝒗𝟎𝟎 = 𝟎𝟎
𝒕𝒕 𝟐𝟐

∆𝒙𝒙 𝟏𝟏
= 𝒂𝒂 𝒕𝒕
𝒕𝒕 𝟐𝟐
𝟏𝟏
 This equation represent a straight line where 𝒂𝒂 represent the slope.
𝟐𝟐
𝒂𝒂 = 𝟐𝟐 ∗ 𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics Dr. Dorra Turki
 Experimental procedure

∆𝒙𝒙 𝟏𝟏
= 𝒂𝒂 𝒕𝒕
𝒕𝒕 𝟐𝟐

∆𝒙𝒙 𝒎𝒎
( )
tm 𝒔𝒔

tm 𝒂𝒂 = 𝟐𝟐 ∗ 𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺
(s)

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics Dr. Dorra Turki
 Equipment needed

 Photo-light sensor.
 Digital timer.
 Pulley.
 Track & cart.
 Masses.

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics Dr. Dorra Turki
 Experimental procedure

1) Hold the chart in a static position using the magnet (available on the end
of the track).
2) Set the sensor at distance about 25 cm from the end of the chart.
3) Reset the counter and make sure that the string passes right through the
pulley and is not falling on the side.
4) Release the chart by pressing the trigger.
5) Record in a table the displayed time and repeat this measurement three
times.
6) Repeat 1-5 for the other distance listed in the table and fill it in.

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics Dr. Dorra Turki
 Experimental procedure

U(∆𝒙𝒙) Time t (s)

∆𝒙𝒙 U t (s) ∆𝑥𝑥 𝑚𝑚
tav (s) ( )
(𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜) t1 (s) t2 (s) t3 (s) tav 𝑠𝑠
25
30
35
40
45
50

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics Dr. Dorra Turki
 Experimental procedure

∆𝑥𝑥 U(∆𝑥𝑥) ∆𝑥𝑥 𝑚𝑚 ∆𝑥𝑥 𝑚𝑚

tav (s) U(tav) ( ) U( )
(m) (m) tav 𝑠𝑠 tav 𝑠𝑠

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics Dr. Dorra Turki
 Experimental procedure

∆𝒙𝒙 𝟏𝟏
= 𝒂𝒂 𝒕𝒕
𝒕𝒕 𝟐𝟐

∆𝒙𝒙 𝒎𝒎
( )
tm 𝒔𝒔

tm 𝒂𝒂𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆 = 𝟐𝟐 ∗ 𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺
(s)

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics Dr. Dorra Turki
 Calculation based on experiment
and comapraison

1. Using the formula Calculate ath

2. Compare a exp. to ath using % difference and ꭕ2

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics Dr. Dorra Turki
 College of Arts and Sciences
Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics Dr. Dorra Turki