LAB #5 Newtons_Second_law_online_labezimmerman
.docx
keyboard_arrow_up
School
Pennsylvania State University *
*We aren’t endorsed by this school
Course
1012LAB
Subject
Aerospace Engineering
Date
Apr 3, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
2
Uploaded by emileautumn
Emile Zimmerman
PHYS 1101L
LAB 5
LAB #5 Investigating Newton’s Second Law of Motion
In this lab, we will be investigating the effects of applied force on objects with varying masses. We will first
experiment freely, by placing items on a skateboard and observing the acceleration while applying forces
ranging from 50N to 500N and mentally noting their acceleration. We will then take a more structured
approach by notating the final velocity of different masses ranging from 40kg to 200kg with a constant applied
force of 50N for 5 seconds. We will then calculate the acceleration for each mass. I believe that we will see
that the higher the force, the higher the acceleration. I also think that items with a greater mass will accelerate
less quickly than items with a lesser mass.
PART A - QUESTIONS:
a. What happens to the change in the value of the speed as you increased the amount of force applied on your
chosen item? When the amount of force applied is increase, the change in the value of speed also
increase. The higher the amount of force is applied, the more quickly the value of speed increases.
b. What does this observation tell you about the relationship between the external force applied and a given
mass’s acceleration (the rate of change in velocity)? The relationship between the external force and the
mass’s acceleration has a positive correlation. TABLE 1: ACCELERATION OF DIFFERENT BODIES AT 50-N FORCE
ITEM
MASS
(kg)
INITIAL VELOCITY (m/s)
FINAL VELOCITY (m/s)
ACCELERATION
(m/s
2
)
child
40
0
6.8
1.36
crate
50
0
5.2
1.04
man
80
0
3.2
0.64
metal trash bin
100
0
2.6
0.52
refrigerator
200
0
1.3
0.26
Your Choice of
Object/Objects
150+?
0
1.3
0.26
PART B - QUESTIONS:
a. What did you notice with the acceleration values obtained by the different items? What do you think
caused the variations in these values?
I noticed that the lighter the mass, the greater the acceleration. I
believe that the variations of the values are due to the greater resistance force that items with higher
masses produce.
b. What variable/s can you manipulate in the simulation to make all the items in Table 1 to get the roughly the
same values for their acceleration? Explain how this idea will work. The variable that would most likely be
able to manipulate the results for an equal acceleration value would be the applied force. With increased
mass, you would need to increase the applied force for it to be relative to the acceleration of the lightest
mass on the chart.
CONCEPT CHECK:
At constant mass, the acceleration of an object varies directly with the net external force applied. That is to
say, that an object’s acceleration increases as the force applied is
increased
, but its acceleration decreases if
the force applied is decreased.
At constant force, acceleration varies inversely
with mass. When subjected to the same amount of net
external force, a heavier object will experience less acceleration than a lighter one. In conclusion, this experiment showed that with a constant mass, acceleration and applied force have a positive correlation whereas with a constant force, acceleration and mass have a negative correlation.
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help