One Dimensional Motion
For this experiment we had to drop an object and calculate its acceleration. To calculate the acceleration, we had to measure the distance of the fall, the time it took to fall, and the object's velocity. The purpose was to measure the acceleration of gravity to the best of our abilities and compare our results to gravity’s actual velocity.
We had to think of the best object to measure gravity. We knew that it had to be less affected by air resistance than most objects. It also had to be apparent when the object hit the ground. So, we decided to use a pencil because it was a close approximation of a one-dimensional object and had a sharp point. We also had to find a way to find out when it exactly hit the ground, so we used slow motion video and a stopwatch on an iPhone to measure the time.
The experiment itself was pretty simple. We dropped the pencil from the top of 25 cm ruler and filmed it in slow motion. The stopwatch was included in the slow motion video to find the precise time the pencil hit the ground. Then, we used the distance and the time to find the acceleration of the object as it hit the ground with the formula x = v0 * t + 12*a*(t)2.
After doing this experiment 10 times and creating a spreadsheet for our work, we came to an average value of 11.14 m/s^2, a standard deviation of 2.58 m/s2, and 13.52% margin of error. The cause of the errors may be do to the fact that I had dropped it slightly above and slightly below 25 cm. Also, the slow motion camera only filmed in 240 fps, making it difficult to find when it exactly hit the ground. Lastly, sometimes the pencil leaned left or right when we dropped it, causing some air resistance.
We had to think of the best object to measure gravity. We knew that it had to be less affected by air resistance than most objects. It also had to be apparent when the object hit the ground. So, we decided to use a pencil because it was a close approximation of a one-dimensional object and had a sharp point. We also had to find a way to find out when it exactly hit the ground, so we used slow motion video and a stopwatch on an iPhone to measure the time.
The experiment itself was pretty simple. We dropped the pencil from the top of 25 cm ruler and filmed it in slow motion. The stopwatch was included in the slow motion video to find the precise time the pencil hit the ground. Then, we used the distance and the time to find the acceleration of the object as it hit the ground with the formula x = v0 * t + 12*a*(t)2.
After doing this experiment 10 times and creating a spreadsheet for our work, we came to an average value of 11.14 m/s^2, a standard deviation of 2.58 m/s2, and 13.52% margin of error. The cause of the errors may be do to the fact that I had dropped it slightly above and slightly below 25 cm. Also, the slow motion camera only filmed in 240 fps, making it difficult to find when it exactly hit the ground. Lastly, sometimes the pencil leaned left or right when we dropped it, causing some air resistance.