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Measuring "G" Lab
Students in Mr. Sievers class at Thornridge High School used new equipment and
technology to determine the value of gravity, the rate at which objects
accelerate towards the Earth when they are in "freefall". Students used
infrared photogates and digital timers to determine the velocity of a falling
ball at various locations. They used laptops and MS Excel software to build
four different graphs for this lab. They constructed Velocity-time,
Position-time and Velocity-Position graphs. Students determined that the slope
of the Velocity-time graphs gave them the value for “g”. They dropped two
different marbles, a steel one and a plastic one. The marbles are the same
diameter, thus they were able to prove, at low velocities, mass has no affect on
the rate at which a falling object accelerates. The students discovered that
the Velocity-Position graphs had an asymptotic behavior which suggested that
objects reach a “terminal” velocity.
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