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The experiment chosen involved measuring the movement of a trolley as it rolled down an angled ramp. - page 1
Keywords: The experiment chosen involved measuring the movement of a trolley as it rolled down an angled ramp.
By Henry on 26/09/2008
Level: A Level (Year 12) / AS Level
Page Number: 1 of 1The experiment chosen involved measuring the movement of a trolley as it rolled down an angled ramp.
By gaining the measurements of the time that the card on top of the trolley spent passing through the light gate, it is possible to understand the velocity of the trolley. Because of the very smooth wheels of the trolley, due to the high quality bearings, the friction is minimal as well as the air resistance also being negligible due to the small cross section; therefore the effect of gravity on the trolley can be taken in seclusion.
Because gravity is a constant and the change in the filed strength is considered nothing, due to the small range of heights used in this experiment, the two variables are the height and velocity. The trolley has the velocity due to the gravity acting upon it and when the trolley is pushed up the ramp it gains in gravitational potential or gpe, and when the trolley is released and able to travel down the ramp this gpe transfers into kinetic energy, and due to the minimal friction and lack of air resistance the gpe can be compared to the kinetic energy at the end of the run.
The readings were taken in non-SI units and so to place the data into the graph and add some consistency I changed them into SI units for ease of use.
The two formulae used;
Kinetic energy = ½ mv2
Gravitational potential energy =Mass x Height x Gravitational field strength
Kinetic energy = Gravitational potential energy
½ mv2 = mgh
1/2 v2 =gh
v2 = 2gh
g=v2/2h
2 and g are constants (g = 9.81Nkg) so can be
v2 = kh
v2 can then be plotted on a graph and therefore the gradient of the line should be equal to 2g of k.
The equation of the graph is y=20.224x + 0.4005, with the 0.4005 being the y-intersect and therefore the energy lost due to sound, heat and air resistance, this being very small. The gradient of the line is 20.224 and so is close enough to the 2g which equals 2x9.81Nkg =19.62. Therefore the gradient should be twice the gravity, however this is not quite the case due to the systematic error, air-resistance and friction. 20.224/2 = 10.112 therefore a small difference of 0.312Nkg
I worked out the vertical height by using easy trigonometry
Distance to light gate x Sin 16.25=vertical height of trolley
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