Download Newton`s second law of motion

Newton’s second law of motion
Assignment
To verify Newton’s second law of motion using a tickertimer, weights and a
small trolley. The second law of motion can be written
F=m·a
W here
F : F orce
m : mass
a : acceleration
I.e. To accelerate an object a force in needed, this force is proportional to
the acceleration, and the constant of proportionality is m. the mass of the
object.
Experiment
In this experiment your going to use a weight with mass m kg to accelerate
a trolley weighing M kg. The movement of the trolley is recorded using a
tapetimer.
Ticker tape
timer
Trolley M kg
m kg
Figure 1: Experimental set up
1
• Use the tape gained to make a velocity time graph. (Details of how
to do this are found in the physcis book Making a tapechart Page 8-9.
Try to think through how you would do this before you arrive at the
lab on friday)
• Determine the acceleration using the velocity time graph. Remember
the acceleration is the slope of the velocity-time graph.
• Repeat procedure with different weights.
• Verify the law of motion by completing the following table, if F =
(m + M )a then the law of motion is valid for our experiment.
m+M
Measurement
Measurement
Measurement
Measurement
a
F
1
2
3
4
2
= (m + M )a
=
=
=
=