FREE

FALL
Lab Report

BY : Section 1103
Warisa Lertsathitphong
Chonthong Narkrit
Natakrita Niamngam
Jirachaya Luangvilai
 Introduction

The modern study of objects in free fall near the Earth’s

surface was begun by Galileo since 400 years ago. Galileo’s belief
at the time was that two objects, regardless of material or size,
would fall and reach the ground at the exact same time. But his
theory was countered by Aristotle, a famous scientist at the time,
that the heavier object will fall faster than the lighter object. To
disprove Aristotle’s theory and claim that his theory was right,
Galileo then conducted his famous velocity experiments by
dropping objects from the Leaning Tower of Pisa. In that
experiment, he used two objects of the same materials but
different masses and dropped them from the same height. That
is when he discovered that both object landed at the same time
and changed the way that free fall was defined forever.
 Objection
In this experiment, we will be experimenting with tennis
balls and table tennis balls to observe free fall motion of
different weighted object when it is released from the same
height. We will be experimenting by dropping both types of
ball from the 4th floor to the 2nd floor and use timers to
record how much time it takes for each type of ball to reach
the ground then use those time records to calculate for
distance that each ball travels.
 Materials
- Big ball - Tennis ball : 3

- Small ball - Table tennis ball : 3

- Timers : 2

- Measuring tape : 1
Set-up
Timer A : Warisa
Timer B : Natakrita N
Ball Collector : Chonthong
 Procedure
Procedure
1. Assign roles for each member:
● 2 Timers on the 4th floor (as group 3 have only 3
members)
○ Timer A: Drop the ball/ Measure from the 4th
floor.
○ Timer B: Take note
● Ball collector
2. The timer goes to the 4th floor with
● 6 balls ( 3 tennis ball + 3 table tennis ball)
● Measuring tape
● 2 stopwatches
● Worksheet
● Pen
3. Timer A uses a measuring tape to measure the height
from the balcony to the ground with assistance from ball
collector on the 2nd floor.
4. Timer B note down the measured height.
5. Timer ready to record the data.
6. Timer A drops the ball and at the same time, give a signal
to start time recording until the ball hit the ground. (All
timers measure the time separately)
7. Timer B writes down all timers measurement in the
worksheet.
8. Repeat for trail#2 and #3. Then move on to the next object
( 3 more trials)
9. Ball collector brings all the balls back to the laboratory.
Data
Dataand
andResult
Results
Table A : Heavy object
Height of 4th-floor balcony to the ground = 9.49 metres

Trials Time Average Distance %Differen

(seconds) Time ces

Timer A Timer B Timer C (seconds) (meters)

1 1.40 1.41 - 1.41 9.75 2.7%

2 1.34 1.34 - 1.34 8.82 7.14%

3 1.44 1.19 - 1.32 8.53 10.68%

Total 1.36 9.03 6.83%

average

Calculation for distance and %difference

Distance %Difference

Formula: yf=yi+vit +12 gt2 Formula: 2(height measured - height

cal)height measured + height cal100
Trial 1: yf=0+12-9.81.412
=12-9.81.99= -9.75m Trial 1: % dif = 2(9.49 - 9.75)9.49 + 9.75 x
100 = 2.7%
Trial 2: yf=0+12-9.81.342
=12-9.81.80= -8.82m
Trial 2: % dif = 2(9.49 - 8.82)9.49 + 8.82 x
100 = 7.14%
Trial 3: yf=0+12-9.81.322
=12-9.81.74= -8.53m
Trial 3: % dif = 2(9.49 -8.53)9.49 + 8.53 x
Total average: -9.75+(-8.82)+(-8.53)3 100 = 10.65%
= -9.03m

Total average: 2.7 + 7.14 + 10.653 =

6.83%
Data
Dataand
andResult
Results
Table B : Light object
Height of 4th-floor balcony to the ground = 9.49 metres

Trials Time Average Distance %Differen

(seconds) Time ces

Timer A Timer B Timer C (seconds) (meters)

1 1.62 1.50 - 1.56 11.95 22.95%

2 2.16 2.00 - 2.08 21.2 109.26%

3 1.87 1.68 - 1.98 15.53 56.54%

Total 1.81 16.23 62.85%

average

Calculation for distance and %difference

Distance %Difference

Formula: yf=yi+vit +12 gt2 Formula: 2(height measured - height

cal)height measured + height cal100
Trial 1: yf=0+12-9.81.562
=12-9.82.43= -11.95m Trial 1: % dif = 2(9.49 - 11.95)9.49 + 11.95 x
100 = 22.95%
Trial 2: yf=0+12-9.82.082
=12-9.84.33= -21.2m
Trial 2: % dif = 2(9.49 - 21.2)9.49 + 21.2 x
100 = 109.26%
Trial 3: yf=0+12-9.81.782
=12-9.83.17= -15.53m
Trial 3: % dif = 2(9.49 - 15.53)9.49 + 15.53
Total average: x 100 = 56.54%
-11.95m+(-21.2m)+(-15.53m)3
= -16.23m
Total average: 22.95 + 109.26 + 56.543
= 62.85%
Data
Dataand
andResult
Results
Table C : Table C: Heavy and Light object
Instantaneous velocity and Time from both objects

Instantaneous Velocity Heavy Object Light Object

Time (s) V (m/s) Time (s) V (m/s)

When the object is in 0.98 9.65 0.98 9.65

midway

At the instant the 1.39 13.64 1.39 13.64

object
(hit the ground)
Data
Dataand
andResult
Results
Calculation for instantaneous velocity and time

Heavy Object Light Object

Formula: vf2=vi2+2gy , t=2yfg Formula: vf2=vi2+2gy , t=2yfg

When the object is midway: 9.492 = When the object is midway: 9.492 = 4.75
4.75 m. m.

vf=2gy vf=2gy

vf=(2)(-9.8)(4.75)
vf=(2)(-9.8)(4.75)
vf= 9.65 m/s
vf= 9.65 m/s
t=2(4.75)9.8
t=2(4.75)9.8
t=0.98 s
t=0.98 s
At the instant the object hit the
At the instant the object hit the ground:
ground:
vf=2gy
vf=2gy
vf=(2)(-9.8)(9.49)
vf=(2)(-9.8)(9.49)
vf=13.64 m/s
vf=13.64 m/s
t=2(4.75)9.8
t=2(4.75)9.8
t=1.39 s
t=1.39 s
 Analysis of Results

According to the results, the result of the heavy object is

more accurate than the result of the light object. This is due to
the unavoidable and uncontrollable factor that act unequally
on different types of object. In this case, it is air resistance. Air
resistance tend to act more on the lighter weight object,
causing the light object (table tennis ball) to reach the ground
slower than the heavy object (tennis ball). These inaccurate time
records result in inaccurate data and cause error in calculation
on the following procedure.
 Conclusion

Using the results as our reference, the differences between

the height measured and the height calculated tells us that
there are various factors, such as the air resistance that acts
on both types of object during the experiment. But according to
the last calculation part, if we use height measured as our
reference to the formula, the result of both light and heavy
objects are the same in both time and instantaneous velocity.

To conclude, the mass of an object does not affect the rate

of falling (velocity and time) when the object is released from the
same height but free fall motion is impossible to take place on
Earth as free fall is the motion of the object that is moving
downward due to gravity force when the air resistance is
negligible.
 Recommendation

There are many errors occurring in the results especially in

timing the dropping ball and calculation part. The inaccurate
data and result from those parts are due to human error
during the data collecting process. For instance, timer A and
timer B might not start the timers at the same time as the ball
was let go by timer A or they might not stop the timers at the
same time as the ball hits the ground. It is because from timer A
and timer B view from the 4th floor (top view of the ball), it is
hard to notice the exact time that the ball reach the ground.
Thus, to increase accuracy of the result, there should also be
another timer who time the ball from the 2nd floor where it
provides clearer view of the ball’s movement from the release
until the end (ball reached the ground).
References

● David, M. Harrison. (2003, April). Retrieved from

https://faraday.physics.utoronto.ca/IYearLab/Intros/FreeF
all/FreeFall.html

● Janes, Lindsay. (2015, June 6). Retrieved from

http://thefatherofmodernscience.weebly.com/free-fall--acc
eleration.html
Work logs

Name Roles

Warisa - Timer A
- drop balls
- Introduction
- Calculation
- Analysis of results
- Recommendation
Chonthong - Ball collector at 2nd floor
- Procedure
- Data and results
- Conclusion
- Decoration
- Set-up
Natakrita N. - Timer B
- Measure the height
- Objective
- Materials
- References

Jiratchaya