Sagar Sood

IB Physics Yr. 1
IB Lab Report
Due: 5th Jan, 09

Introduction / Purpose
An object tends to be in motion when there is a change in its
location due to its movement. This change occurs because of a force
applied on it. Motion is typically described in terms of velocity,
acceleration, displacement, and time. An object's velocity (in other
words its motion) cannot change unless it is acted upon by a force, as
described by Newton's first law. In this lab, the kind of motion that is
dealt with is circular motion. As the name suggests, circular motion is
the motion of an object moving in circles.
Circular motion is the motion that links velocity, mass, and radius
of the string of an object. If any one of the factors is changed, the
motion of the object gets affected or the velocity/acceleration gets
affected. All objects going through circular motion experience a force
called the centripetal force. Centripetal force is the force that acts from
the center of the circular path and makes the object move in the curve
instead of flying out. In other words, centripetal force is the force that
originates from the center and is directed inwards. Also, one important
factor in this lab is that the circular motion will be horizontal.
In this experiment, the factor that will be changed is the radius
of the string. This will bring in a direct change in the motion of the
rubber stopper attached to the string. The string will pass through a
plastic tube, which will be holding gear and the time for 10 rotations of
the rubber stopper will be timed by a stop watch. The velocity will be
calculated by using the universally known formula: v = (2r) / t , where

v is the velocity, r is the radius of the string and t is the time for
one rotation.
As the radius of the string is being changed, it is hence the
manipulated / independent variable. The velocity of stopper will depend
on the radius of the string, so it is the responding/dependant variable.
Factors like the centripetal force (mass of washers), mass of the
stopper, mass of the string, kind of string, size and kind of plastic tube
and the person timing the rotations are not going to be altered and
hence they are the controlled variables.
The main purpose of this experiment is to find out one factor
that affects the motion of a rubber stopper in circular motion. In this
lab, this factor is the change in radius of the string that is attached to
the rubber stopper.

HYPOTHESIS
In this experiment, the factor that will be changed is the radius
of the string. As the radius of the string decreases, the speed of the
revolving rubber stopper increases. This would happen because as the
radius decreases, the rubber stopper takes less time to circle around
with the constant centripetal force on it. In other words as the radius
decreases, the size of the circle decreases, hence it takes less time to
cover a smaller circle, with the same force acting on the rubber
stopper. In other words, the radius of the string is inversely proportional
to the velocity of the stopper.
Radius(r)

~
Velocity(v)

DESIGN
Materials required
Rubber stopper
String (at least 1.2 m)
Washers
Plastic tube
Weighing scale (1g = 0.001kg)
Meter Stick (0.001m)
Marker
Procedure
1. When all the materials are acquired, set up the apparatus as
shown below.

2. With the use of a marker and a meter stick, make a mark on the
lower end of the string so that the first data point (0.800m) is
the radius.
3. Give the stop watch to the partner and make sure that
throughout the experiment, he\she is the timer.
4. Measure the mass of the stopper and the washers with the help
of the weighing scale.(the weight of the washers is the centripetal
force, in our case 1.19 N)
5. Start revolving the stopper without touching any part of the
apparatus except the plastic tube.
6. The timer must time 10 rotations with the stop watch.
7. Carefully, stop the rotations as soon as the timer is done with the
timing.
8. Note down the time and repeat steps 4, 5 and 6 two more times
to get three trials.
9. Now, decrease the radius with the help of the marker and the
meter stick to get the next data point.(in our case it was 0.700m)
10. In total, there should be 8 data points with three trials each.

Data collection
The table below shows the time for 10 rotations. The time is then
divided by 10 to get the time for 1 rotation.

Radius

Time of 10 Rotations (s)

( m)

Trial 1

0. 800

Trail 2

Trail 3

6.88

6.25

7.15

0.7 00

6.82

6.21

0.6 00

5.94

0.5 00

Time of 1 Rotation (s)

Trail 2

Trail 3

0.69

0.63

0.72

6.87

0.68

0.62

0.6 9

6.13

5.60

0.59

5.28

5.44

5.28

0.53

0.54

0.53

0.4 00

4.97

4.94

4.84

0.50

0.50

0.4 9

0. 300

4.72

4.57

4.60

0.47

0.46

0.46

0.2 00

3.57

3.53

3.59

0.38

0.35

0.36

0.1 00

3.25

3.12

3.38

0.33

0.31

0.34

0.0 01
m

0.01 s

Trial 1

0.61

0.001 s

0.56

The table below shows the average time of one rotation at

decreasing radius. With the help of the average time, the velocity is
calculated using the formula: v = (2r)/t. The mass of the stopper is
0.012kg and the centripetal force is 1.19N

Radius
( m)

Time of 10 Rotations
Trial

Trail

Trail 3

Average

Uncertaint

Velocit

Uncertainty

Time

( ms )

(s)

(s)

(ms )

-1

-1

(s)
0. 80 0

0.69

0.63

0.72

0.68

0.05

7.39

0.5

0.70 0

0.68

0.62

0.69

0.66

0.04

6.66

0.4

0.6 00

0.59

0.61

0.56

0.59

0.03

6.39

0.3

0.500

0.53

0.54

0.53

0.53

0.01

5.93

0.1

0.400

0.50

0.50

0.49

0.49

0.01

5.13

0.1

0. 300

0.47

0.46

0.46

0.46

0.01

4.10

0.1

0.20 0

0.38

0.35

0.36

0.36

0.02

3.49

0.1

0.10 0

0.33

0.31

0.34

0.33

0.02

1.90

0.1

0.02

0.2

0.001

0.001 s

DATA PROCESSING

 In all cases Data Point 1(0.800 m0.001 m) has been

taken into account
Time of one rotation: Time of 10 rot. / 10
= (6.69) / 10
= 0.669
= 0.68s
(as to be rounded to 2 sig. figures.)

Uncertainty: Uncertainty of ten rotations / 10

= 0.01s / 10
= 0.001s
Average Time=

Sum of trials / Number of trials

=

(0.69+0.63+0. 72) / 3

0.68 s

Uncertainty:
Uncertainty of Average: (Highest Value Lowest Value) / 2
= (0.72 0.63) / 2
= 0.045

= 0.05
= 0.68s 0.05s
As shown in the data table, the uncertainty is taken as 0.02s.
This is calculated by taking out the average/mean of the uncertainties
of average time for all the data points.
(0.05+0.04+0.03+0.01+0.01+0.01+0.02+0.02) / 8

0.02s
Velocity = (2 x x Radius) / (Time for 1 Rotation)
= (2 x x 0.800m) / (0.68s)
= 7.3916
= 7.39 ms

-1

Uncertainty: (2 x x Uncertainty(r)) / (Uncertainty(s))

= (2 x 0.001m)

( is an accepted

value with no uncertainty)

= 0.002m
= (0.002m) / (0.02s)
= (Uncertainty #1) + (Uncertainty #2)
(Value 1)
=
100

(0.002)

X 100

(Value 2)
+

(0.02)

(0.800)

(0.05)

= 0.65 %
= 7.39 ms

-1

0.65 %

= (0.65/100) x 7.39
= 0.04785
= 0.05 ms
= 7.39 ms

-1

-1

0.05 ms

-1

-1

As shown in the data table, the uncertainty is taken as 0.2 ms .

This is calculated by taking out the average/mean of the uncertainties
of average time for all the data points.
(0.5+0.4+0.3+0.1+0.1+0.1+0.1+0.1) / 8

0.2 ms

Slope of the Graph:

2

F = (mv ) / r

F= 1.19 N

(centripetal force, weight of the

washers)
m= 0.012 kg

(mass of the stopper)

According to the graph,

-1

v = 7.75 ms , v = 7.75
r = 0.700 m

-1

F = (7.75 ms / 0.700 m) / 0.012 kg

= 1.0296
= 1.03 N

Percent Error = [{Theoretical Value Calculated Value} / Theoretical

Value] x 100
= [(1.19 1.03) / 1.19] x 100
= 13.4 % Error

CONCLUSION
Overall, the experiment was carried out with minimum errors and
followed as the procedure. There were eight data points with three
trials each. The experiment was related to one factor that affected the
motion of the rubber stopper in circular motion. In this experiment, that
factor was the length of the string (radius). As stated in the hypothesis,
the radius was decreased which would increase the velocity of the
stopper. But as it can be seen from the data table and graph that as
the radius decreased the velocity also decreased. Hence, the radius of
the string is directly proportional to the velocity of the stopper. This

proves my hypothesis wrong which stated that as the radius decreases,

the velocity increases.
In my experiment, the radius was decreased which decreased the
time elapsed but decreased the velocity as well. This would have
happened because as the radius decreased, the stopper actually has to
move faster in order to cover the larger circle in the same amount of
time. The stopper actually covers much more area of the circle when
the radius is larger without taking more time. This theory is exactly
opposite as stated in my hypothesis.

EVALUATION
As it can be seen from my graph and the data table that there
were some errors in my experiment. The percent error that was
calculated to be 13.5 % assures the fact that there were flaws in my
experiment. One big error was that when the stopper was revolving,
the hand often touched the string of the stopper. This often altered the
centripetal force acting on the string, hence changing the values of my
data. Another error was that not all the time the radius mark (the mark
on the string with the marker) used to be exactly under the plastic
pipe. Because of this, the values of the radius were altered hence
changing the velocity factor in my experiment.

SELF-IMPROVEMENTS
The errors/flaws stated above can be prevented by a number of
steps. Always during the experiment, the only part the hand should
touch is the plastic tube only. Even if the hand touches any other part
of the apparatus, the experiment should be stopped carefully and the
trial should be re-done. Also, instead of using a marker on the string,

he string should be tapped or tagged at the point needed. The tag

should be greater than the radius of the hole of the plastic tube so
that the tag does not pass through the hole, hence it will not alter the
value of the desired radius.