DATE: 3/14/2022

LAB: Planning and Design

TITLE: Force

PROBLEM STATEMENT: A hammer is often used to force a nail into wood. The faster
the hammer moves, the deeper the nail goes into the wood. This can be represented in a
laboratory by a mass falling vertically onto a nail. It is suggested that the depth of the nail in
the wood is related to the velocity ‘v’ to the mass at the instant it hits the nail by the equation:
d = kvn, where ‘k’ and ‘n’ are constants. Design a laboratory experiment to investigate the
relationship between ‘v’ and ‘d’ so as to determine the value for n.

HYPOTHESIS: As the velocity of the hammer increases so will the depth of the nail.

AIM: To investigate the relationship between the velocity of the hammer and depth of the
nail inside of the wood.

APPARATUS: 15cm x 10cm Wooden Board, Three 12.5 cm nails, Six Toothpicks, Chord,
Marker, Clamp Stand, Hammer, Tape Measure/Ruler, Scissors, Stopwatch.

THEORY:

The gravitational potential energy of an object of an is the energy of that object due to its
distance away from the ground. Kinetic energy is the energy that a body has due to its
motion. When an object falls from a height the gravitational potential energy decreases as the
kinetic energy increases as the potential energy is turned into kinetic energy. The equation of
gravitational potential energy (Ep) is written as;

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 Ep= mgh m = Mass(kg)

g = Acceleration due to the Gravitational Field (ms-2) h = Height (m)

The formula for Kinetic energy Ek can be written as;

Ek = ½ mv2 m = Mass (kg) v = Velocity (ms-1)

As the object falls there will be a point where Ep is equal to Ek or mgh = ½ mv2 which can be
written as gh = 1/2(v2). As the object finishes its descent and hits the ground the gravitational
potential energy equals 0 and the energy is all converted to kinetic energy upon impact.
According to the equation above the height of the fall is directly proportional to the height of
the object. This matches another formula;

F(x) = mv2-mu2/2 F – Force (N) x – Height of drop (m)

v – Final Velocity (ms-1) u – Initial Velocity (ms-1)

Since the initial velocity of the object is 0 we can get remove mu2 from the equation leaving
just F(x) = mv2/2 which can be reorganized into v = √2F(x)/m. This equation shows that as
the force increases so will depth of the nail in the wooden board. This shows that as the
height increases so will the velocity and the force applied by the object and vice versa

VARIABLES:

Manipulated: The height of the hammer being dropped

Responding: The depth of the nail after impact, the velocity of the object upon impact

Controlled: The mass used, length of the nail, The type of board used.

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DIAGRAM:

DRAWING SHOWING THE SETUP OF THE EXPRIMENT

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PROCDURE:
1. Collect the three nails and mark of 0.5 cm away from the tip of the nail using the
marker and tape measure.
2. Section the wooden board into three 5cm × 10cm sections using the marker and tape
measure.
3. Locate the middle of each section and mark it with an X using the marker and tape
measure.
4. Make two dots 1.5 cm apart from the mid-point on opposing sides (One 1.5 cm to the
left of the mid-point and another 1.5 cm to the right of the mid-point).
5. Using the hammer and marked nails make a 0.5cm indent into the wooden board
where marked by a dot.
6. Raise the height of the clamp stand to 30 cm
7. Set up a clamp stand in such a fashion that a hanging chord would hang directly over
an indent of depth 0.5cm.
8. Tie the chord to the hammer
9. Attach the chord 5 cm above the nail to the Clamp stand (Check with tape measure).
10. Place the nail in the left most indent in the most left section.
11. Align the hanging hammer with the nail so that it is suspended directly above the nail
12. Using the scissors carefully cut the cord.
13. Record how long it took for the hammer to fall and make impact on the nail with a
stopwatch.
14. Remove the nail and hammer from the board.
15. Using the marker mark and record the depth of the indent on a toothpick.
16. Untie the chord from the hammer and retie on the next chord of same length
17. Repeat steps 7 – 16 once more
18. Once the two chords of same length have been used, repat steps 7 – 17 10 cm and 15
cm above the nail.
19. Plot a graph of log d against log v

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RESULTS:

TABLE SHOWING THE RECORDING FROM THE PROCEDURE

Length Height Height of Average Height Depth of Indent Time taken

TABLE SHOWING THE VELOCITY OF THE HAMMER AND VALUES OF THE

Log d Velocity (v)/ms-1 Log v n (Log d/Log v)

CALCULATIONS:

Equation d = kvn where k and n are constants, d is the depth of the nail and v is velocity can
be written in the form of the equation of a straight line;

d = kvn

Log d = Log kvn

Log d = log k + n(Log(v))

Log d = n(Log(v)) + Log k ≡ y = m(x) + c

Log d = y Log k = c n=m x = Log(v)

Calculate the Gradient

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 Y 2−Y 1
=m(Gradient)
X 2−X 1

Value for n

y = m(x) + c

log10d = (n)log10(v) + log10(k)

m=n

What is the Y intercept?

log10d = (n)log10(v) + log10(k)

y = m(x) + c

y – m(x) = c

What is the value of k?

log10d = (n)log10(v) + log10(k)

y = m(x) + c

y – m(x) = c

c = log10(k)

10c = k

TREATMENT OF RESULTS:

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The higher up the hammer falls from the greater its gravitational potential energy. As the
hammer falls the gravitational potential energy decreases as its kinetic energy increases
coming to a climax at impact. This climax results in the gravitational potential energy
reaching 0 and all that energy turning into kinetic energy. The higher the drop of the hammer
the greater the hammers velocity as the greater gravitational potential energy due to increased
height turned to kinetic energy, increasing the velocity while the mass stayed constant. The
increased velocity should also increase the depth of the indent as the force applied on the nail
is greater shown by the equation F(x) = mv2/2. The equation shows that force and velocity
are directly proportional. In conclusion if the depth of the indent made by the hammers
impact on the nail increases with the hammers velocity the hypothesis will be proven true,
otherwise it will be false.

PRECAUTIONS:

1. Ensure that you read the measuring instrument parallel to your eyes so that
parallax error will not occur.
2. Make sure before the hammer falls that the nail is properly and securely fastened
in the initial 5cm indent and is perpendicular to the board.
3. Ensure that the hammer is directly over the nail using measuring instruments to
ensure alignment

SOURCES OF ERROR:

1) The measurements could be read wrong due to the angle of observation of the
measuring instrument.
2) The nail could not be properly placed in the wood leading to an angled indent
3) The hammer may not have land directly on the nail leading toward and angled indent.

CONCLUSION

If the hypothesis is proven correct then the velocity of the hammer at impact and the depth of
the indent of the nail are directly proportional.

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 NAIL AND WEIGH PD

Marks Awarded
State appropriate hypothesis 1
state independent variable 1
State dependent variable 1
State controlled variables 1
State how the variables are controlled 1
State a method to find v, at instant of hitting the nail head 1
Suggest a method to find the distance moved by nail into the wood 1
A clear method showing how v and d are varied to repeat the 1
experiment
Suggests suitable method to find n and k from the experiment 1
Suggest a method to obtain n and K from data obtained 1
Appropriate conclusion 1
limitation/ errors 1
Total 12

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