Relahi Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Physics students in Mr. Fullerton's class conducted an experiment determine the acceleration due to gravity in a free falling object. The students ran through several trials utilizing a ball dropped from a controlled distance, 2 meters, and used a timing device to record the dropped ball's velocity. The students then calculated the average time, finding it to be .563 seconds. With this information in mind the studnets were able to calculate the acceleration due to gravity. Here is the table of variables the students utilized to find the acceleration: Vi = 0 m/s Vf = Not needed A = ? T= .563s By using the kinematic equation a=d/t, the students came to a final acceleration of 7.105 m/s^2. In comparision to the universally accepted value of 9.81m/s^2, the final acceleration was invalid due to a percent error of over 27%. Many variables can attribute to the large margin of error, including mechanical error in part due to the stopwatch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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