Posts

Showing posts from April, 2025

Rotational Kinematics lab

Image
1. Use the velocity components to determine the direction of the velocity vector. Is it in the expected direction? 1. From the x-t and y-t images, the two curves show a sine and cosine relationship, indicating that the object is in uniform circular motion. Since position over time behaves as a sine and cosine function, this means that the velocity is their derivative, and the direction of the velocity is always perpendicular to the direction of the radius, so the velocity vector varies in the tangential direction, which is consistent with the theory of circular motion. The formula used to calculate speed 2. Analyze enough different points in the same video to make a graph of the speed of a point as a function of distance from the axis of rotation. What quantity does the slope of this graph represent? In this experiment, we investigated the relationship between radius, linear velocity and acceleration in uniform circular motion by analyzing the motion of three different points on a r...

Angular Velocity Lab

Image
  Analysis In this experiment, we analyze the energy conversion process of the system by comparing the experimentally measured velocity with the theoretically predicted velocity. In the experiment, we used the displacement 𝑥 and time t to estimate the terminal velocity of the falling object using the equation: The theoretical predicted velocity is derived using an energy conservation model, calculated as: where m is the mass of the suspended weight (0.1 kg), h is the drop height, r is the radius of the wire wrap, and I is the moment of inertia of the disk (estimated at 0.0014 kg-m²). We performed a comparative analysis using three different radius values to calculate the predicted velocities for each case and compared them to the velocities measured in the experiments to assess the accuracy of the model and the sources of error. Conclusion By comparing the experimentally measured velocities with the theoretical predictions, we find that the predicted velocities are generally sligh...

Inclined track experiment

Image
  Data obtained in the classroom Formula for finding velocity and how to find efficiency To analyze the energy efficiency of the magnetic bumper, we conducted multiple trials using a cart released from various heights on an inclined track. By measuring the initial and rebound heights of the cart, we were able to determine its velocity before and after the collision using the equation v = 2 g h v = \sqrt{2gh} v =( 2 gh)^1/2 ​ . The energy efficiency of the bumper was then calculated using the ratio of the final to initial kinetic energy, given by Efficiency = ( v 2 v 1 ) 2 Date Analyze The efficiency of the magnetic bumper was found to be between 72% and 78% , indicating that about 22%–28% of the mechanical energy is lost during the collision. This loss is likely due to friction, deformation of the bumper, and air resistance. The data also show a slight trend: as the initial velocity increases, the efficiency slightly decreases, which may suggest greater energy loss at higher impac...

Frictional Force

Image
  Data collected from the experiment The formula to calculate the normal force and friction force is Predicted Friction Force Mass change graphs and tables tables graphs In the graph above, the orange line represents the predicted relationship f k = μ k N f_k = \mu_k N f k ​ = μ k ​ N , using a theoretical coefficient of kinetic friction μ k = 0.4 \mu_k = 0.4 μ k ​ = 0.4 . The experimental data yields a fitted slope of approximately 0.8911, indicating that the actual friction observed in our experiment was significantly higher than the expected value. Hight change graphs and tables tables graphs In the height-changing trial, the measured coefficient of kinetic friction was μₖ ≈ 0.315 , with a high linearity of R² = 0.9574 . This closely matches the predicted value of μₖ = 0.4 , supporting the direct proportionality between kinetic friction and normal force. Uncertainty To evaluate the uncertainty in our experimental method, we conducted four repeated trials at the same setup. The s...