Melissa Chang

9/23/18
PHY 133
Hare Krishna
Force and Acceleration

 Introduction:
Newton’s second law states that in order for an object to accelerate there must be force
exerted on that object. The acceleration of an object relies on its mass and the external force
that’s applied which can be found with the equation Fnet= ma. We can determine if the equation
is effective by finding the slope of the force vs. acceleration curve after adding force to the
device and figuring out the mass of it. Our results should match the known mass of the device
which was obtained using the gravitational force equation Fg=mg. The results will confirm that
there’s validity to the equation Fnet=ma.

Procedure:
Force and Acceleration: Time and Magnitude Qualitative comparison
1. Add the plate to the force sensor of the device
2. Select force vs. time and acceleration vs. time on the left hand side
3. Start recording data and push the device several times across a table with the wheels
facing up
Finding Known Value of mass
1. Put the screw onto the device and place the device on the table with the screw pointing up
2. Starting recording but don’t touch the device for a few seconds
3. Lift the device by the screw and hold it for a few seconds then gently put it back down
4. From the graphs, you can find the acceleration due to gravity and force due to gravity. Plug
those numbers into the equation Fg=mg to determine the mass of the device
Quantitative Measurement of Force Part I
1. Stick the plate to the force probe, plugs the dongle into the computer, and turn your device
on
2. Select the force and accelerator sensors on the left hand side
3. Having the wheels facing up, push the device 5 times in a row but increase force each time
and find the peak values for each push
4. Make a table for acceleration (m/s^2) and force (N) and put your data in
5. Graph the peaks that you found on excel and add a line of best fit.
6. Find the mass by using the slope and the equation of the line and compare it to the actual
mass
Part II
1.Attach the screw to the force probe and attach the spring to the screw
2. Hold the other end of the spring with a textbook and let it hang off the table
3. Select the force and accelerator sensors on the left hand slide
4. Pull on the device so it oscillate vertically
5. Using the data we obtained, turn into a parametric plot of acceleration vs. force and find the
slope by using the cursor and selecting to 2 points from the curve
6. Compare the mass values to the known value

Results: Force and Acceleration: Time and magnitude Qualitative comparison



 This chart shows how the position of the peaks on the force vs. time plot is in the same
position as the acceleration vs. time plot. This means forces and acceleration happen at the
same time. They grow in a correlated manner.

Value of mass

This chart shows a highlighted portion of the graph which is acceleration due to gravity. The
acceleration due to gravity was -9.812 m/s^2. The other highland portion of graph was force due
to gravity in newtons which was -2.014 N.

This tables shows the force of gravity, acceleration, and the actual mass of the device which
was calculated by plugging in -2.014 N for Fg and -9.812 m/s^2 for g. After we divided, we got
0.205 kg as a result.

Quantitative Force of Measurement Part I

This graph displays the five peaks after shoving the device 5 times consecutively with
increasing strength. As you increase in strength, the higher the peak for force and acceleration.
There are big positive and small negative peaks. During the negative peaks, the device is not
accelerating as much and is going in a slower speed.

Quantitative Force of Measurement Part I

This plot shows a zoomed in portion of the third peak. The acceleration was 10.789 m/s^2 and
the force was 2.429.

This chart exhibit all the data taken from the plot. It contains the acceleration and force during
each of the five peaks. It also compares the known mass to the mass that was calculated from
the data. We can conclude that they’re the same since there’s less than 10% error.
This is the graph of the acceleration and force values from the chart. The equation of the line is
y=0.2074x+0.2873. From the slope, we figured out the mass is 0.207 kg and confirm that F=ma.

Parametric Plot

This is the parametric plot of acceleration vs.time when the device oscillate vertically.

This chart displays two points found in the parametric plot. In order to find the slope of the plot, I
subtracted the change in y values divided by the change in x values from the two points and got
0.193 kg which is equivalent to the mass. Compared to the known mass and as well as the
previous mass from part 1, we can verify they are the same.

Calculations:
To find known mass: To find slope:
Fg=mg Δy/Δx= (-0.6981- -2.6204)
-2.014 N= -9.812 m/s^2 m / (-4.8848- - 14.8395)= 0.193 kg
M= -2.014 N/-9.812 m/s^2= 0.205 kg

Percent difference (Known mass & Part I): Percent difference (Known mass and Part II)
| Expected- Experimental/Expected|*100 |Expected-Experimental/Expected|*100
(.205 kg- 0.207 kg)/ .205 kg*100= .976% (.205 kg- 0.193 kg)/ .205 kg*100= 5.85%

Uncertainty in mass
Discussion/ Conclusion:
It’s evident that there’s validity to Newton’s second law that states that when there’s external
force acted on an object, there will be acceleration and it’s supported by the equation F=ma.
During the lab, the mass of the device was calculated from the acceleration due to gravity and
force due to gravity and ended up being 0.205 kg. To determine if force really equals mass
times acceleration, we looked at the slope of acceleration vs. force plot after getting the values
from the five consecutive pushes of the device. Since F=ma and the graph was an acceleration
vs. force graph while having acceleration in the x axis and force in the x axis. This means y
(force)/ x (acceleration) will give us the mass and in other words, the slope is equal to the mass.
The mass turned out to be 0.207 kg which is .976% error and it fit within the uncertainty of .205
+/- .0049 kg. We also determine the slope of force and acceleration from a parametric plot after
the device oscillate vertically and got 0.193 kg with 5.85% error but it doesn't fit within the
uncertainty of .205 +/- .0049 kg. My known mass doesn't match part 2 mass within uncertainty.
We calculated the slope by using the slope formula which is the change of y divided by the
change of x. Having our expected and experimental data to be close together in part 1 and
within less than 10% of error, we can confirm that F=ma. Possible reasons for discrepancies in
the actual mass compared to the data we obtained experimentally especially in part 2 may be
due to device not oscillating steadily. To fix this problem, I will make sure it oscillate properly.