Experiment Description

Experiment

Experiment DL03    Force and Acceleration

Objectives
  • Study the motion of a trolley under constant force
  • Study the motion of a trolley when it is pushed and pulled by hand
  • Obtain the relationship between the applied force and the acceleration for a constant mass
Description
In this activity, you will use a Force Sensor and a Motion Sensor to record the force and position of an accelerating trolley.

In Experiment 1, you will set up a friction compensated runway and then apply an external force by a hanging mass. The acceleration is obtained from the slope of the v-t graph which is plotted by the computer. A graph of net force against acceleration is plotted. The slope is then compared with the total mass of the trolley.

In Experiment 2, you will drag the trolley to move by your hand. A graph of Force against the acceleration is plotted by the computer to verify the Newton's Law of Motion.
Apparatus
Science Workshop 500/700/750 Interface [1]
Motion Sensor [1]
Force Sensor [1]
trolley [1]
laboratory jack [1]
runway [1]
clamp-on pulley [1]
mass and hanger (refer to manual) [1]
string [1]
metre rule [1]
triple-beam balance [1]
Experiment