Modified Atwood's Lab

Thornridge High School

Modified Atwood's Lab

Students in Mr. Sievers 4th block and 1st block classes at Thornridge High School used new equipment and technology to determine the rate at which a Modified Atwood’s machine accelerates and ultimately determine the coefficient of friction between the block and the surface it was sliding on. Students used laptops, Vernier software, and infra-red smart pulleys, to determine the acceleration of the system. The software recorded data and constructed a Velocity-time graph. Students then examined the slope of these graphs and used the software to determine the acceleration of the system. Then, using concepts from the classroom like free-body-diagrams and writing the equations of motion for the two masses, the students solved two equations and two unknowns to determine the coefficient of friction between the block and the surface it was sliding on. This was a high technology driven lab that utilized concepts within the unit on forces.