Prelab: Free Fall

Name: Date:
Group members: Instructor:

1. The table below describes the speed of a uniformly accelerating object with respect
to time. Use a spreadsheet program to create a graph with complete parts for this
data set. Paste a printout of the graph in the space provided.

Time t Speed v
(s) (m/s)
hti ∆t hvi ∆v
0 0.1 1 0.2
1 0.1 6 0.5
2 0.1 11 1
3 0.1 15.5 0.3
4 0.1 21.5 2
5 0.1 26 1
6 0.1 31 1
7 0.1 35 3
8 0.1 41 2
9 0.1 47 5

Prelab: Free Fall 1

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 EXPERIMENT
Free Fall

Objectives

In this experiment, the student is expected to achieve the following:

• Experimentally measure the acceleration due to gravity using the Vernier LabQuest.

• Create graphs using a spreadsheet program.

• Use graphical analysis to describe the motion of an object in free fall.

Introduction

An object is in free fall when the only force acting on it is the Earth’s gravitational force;
air resistance or any other external forces should be negligible. When an object falls
freely close to the Earth’s surface, the gravitational force on it is nearly constant and
accelerates the object downward at a constant rate. This acceleration due to gravity is
represented with the symbol, g.
The behavior of the position and the velocity of a uniformly accelerating object is
described by the kinematic equations given by:

v = v0 + at (1)
1
x = x0 + v0 t + at2 (2)
2

The acceleration of a freely falling object is a constant given by |a| = |g| = 9.81 m/s,
where g is the acceleration due to gravity. In this experiment, we will obtain instantaneous
velocities and relative positions and compare the resulting behavior to that described by
Equations 1 and 2.

Graphical Analysis
Graphs are used to provide a visual representation of the behavior of obtained data points
of your experiment. In this section, we discuss the different parts of a well-made graph.

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Axes

The axes define the coordinates where the data points will be located. The x-axis is for
the independent variable, while the y-axis is for the dependent variable. The axes should
be located

Axis Labels

Axis labels indicate the variables being studied per axis. Axis labels should also include
the unit of measurement for the said variable. For example, if the x-axis corresponds
to the distance traveled by an object in meters, the axis label should read ‘‘Distance
Traveled (m)’’

Data Points

The data of your experiment can be represented visually by points on the graph. The loca-
tion of the points are described by coordinates defined by the independent (x-coordinate)
and dependent (y-coordinate) variables. When multiple data sets are superimposed in
one graph, these data sets are usually differentiated by using different marker shapes
(circles, triangles, etc.) and colors.

Legends

Legends are needed when there are multiple data sets superimposed in one graph. This
enables readers to know the data sets corresponding to the different markers present in
the graph.

Error bars

Error bars specify the range of values the data points could have. The length of the error
bars drawn across a single data point correspond to its absolute uncertainty.

Trendline

Trendline, also known as regression line, describes the best fit line of the data. This
is accompanied by the equation of the trendline and the R2 value. The R2 value is a
measure of how good your data fits with the trendline and can take the values [0, 1].
Values of R2 close to 1 indicate good correlation.

Title and Caption

A short description of the graph can be included as a title or as a caption. The title is
placed on top of the graph and it should include the dependent and independent variables
of the corresponding experiment. The caption is a short but complete description of the
graph, and is usually written in sentence form. Since the captions can be generally longer
than titles, it can put more emphasis and be more complete as compared to titles. This
is the reason why titles are omitted when captions are present.

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Physics 71.1 1st Sem, A.Y. 2019–2020

Figure 1: Experimental set-up with a freely falling Picket Fence

Materials

The following materials are required for the experiment:

• Vernier LabQuest • Picket Fence • USB Storage device

• Photogate • Iron stand and clamp

Procedure

1. Fasten the Photogate rigidly to a ring stand so its arms extend horizontally, as
shown in Figure 1. The entire length of the Picket Fence must be able to fall freely
through the Photogate. To avoid damaging the Picket Fence, use the soft landing
surface provided.

2. Connect the Photogate to the digital (DIG) port of LabQuest and choose New from
the File menu.

3. Setup the photogate as your sensor.

• Choose Sensor Setup from the Sensor menu.

• Select Photogate from the dropdown menu of the DIG port.
• Select OK.

4. Observe the reading on the Meter screen. Block the Photogate with your hand;
note that the Gate State is shown as Blocked. Remove your hand and the display
will change to Unblocked.

5. Start data collection to prepare the Photogate. Note: Data are collected when the
gate is blocked for the first time after data collection is started.

6. Hold the top of the Picket Fence between two fingers, allowing the Picket Fence
to hang freely just above the center of the Photogate, without blocking the gate.

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Release the Picket Fence so it leaves your grasp completely before it enters the Pho-
togate. The Picket Fence must remain vertical and should not touch the Photogate
as it falls.

7. When the Picket Fence has completely passed through the Photogate, a graph of
position vs. time and speed vs. time appears on the screen. Sketch the graphs on
paper for later use.

8. Examine your speed vs. time graph. The slope of a speed vs. time graph is the
acceleration. If the speed graph is approximately a straight line of constant slope,
the acceleration is constant.

• Choose Curve Fit from the Analyze menu.

• Select Linear as the Fit Equation.
• Record the slope of the linear curve fit in the data table.
• Select OK.

9. To establish the reliability of your slope measurement, repeat Steps 5–8 two more
times. Do not use data in which the Picket Fence hits or misses the Photogate.
Record the slope values in the data table.

10. Calculate the best estimate for the acceleration due to gravity g from your three
trials. Calculate the percent error with the theoretical value.

11. Export your data to a USB stick by following these instructions:

• Plug the USB stick in the USB port of the Vernier LabQuest
• Choose File and select Export
• Export your data as a text (.txt) file. (The data will automatically format
itself when it is pasted to a spreadsheet application)

12. Using the result of one of your trials, create a graph of the position versus time be-
havior using your spreadsheet application (Microsoft Excel, LibreOffice, OpenOffice,
Numbers). For Microsoft Excel users, you may follow the following instructions:

• Go to Insert and select Charts

• Select the Scatter option. This will create a plot of your data.
• Right-click the plot and select the Select Data option.
• Select your time values as the range of x-values, while your position values to
be the range of the y-values. You can add more data sets by clicking Add
after every data series. This enables you to superimpose multiple data sets in
one plot area.
• Under Chart tools, click Design and select Quick Layout and choose the
format with a title, legends, and axis labels.
• Edit the title, legends, and axis labels so it can be applicable to your data.
• Remove the grid lines by selecting them and pressing Delete.
• Right-click on the data points and select Add Trendline

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Physics 71.1 1st Sem, A.Y. 2019–2020

• In the appearing message box, check Display Equation on chart and Dis-
play R-squared value on chart

13. Using the same trial, create a graph of the speed vs time behavior using your
spreadsheet application.

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Physics 71.1 1st Sem, A.Y. 2019–2020

Name: Date:
Group members: Instructor:

Data Sheet

Table W1: Results of the acceleration per Trial

Trials Acceleration of the Picket Fence (m/s2 )

Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
Best Estimate
Percent Error

Figure 2: Speed versus time plot of the picket fence

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Figure 3: Position versus time plot of the picket fence

Questions

Answer the following questions in no more than two sentences.

1. Are your graphs consistent with the expected behavior based on Equations 1 and 2?
Explain why the acceleration obtained from the graphs is positive.

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2. How will the your position vs. time and velocity vs. time graphs in LabQuest
change if the picket fence was thrown downward instead of being dropped? Sketch
the graph (include original plot). Assume that the picket fence was released above
the photogate.

3. How will the your position vs. time and velocity vs. time graphs in LabQuest
change if the picket fence was thrown upward instead of being dropped? Sketch the
graph. Assume that the picket fence was released below the photogate.

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