MECE 222 (DYNAMICS)

EXPERIMENT 1: ACCELERATION
Name Student ID
INTRODUCTION

Acceleration is a fundamental concept in physics, and it refers to the rate at which an object's
velocity changes over time. It is a vector quantity, meaning it has both magnitude and direction.
Acceleration occurs when an object speeds up, slows down, or changes direction, and it is
typically measured in meters per second squared (m/s^2).

The concept of acceleration plays a vital role in understanding motion and is governed by
Newton's second law of motion, which states that the acceleration of an object is directly
proportional to the force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass (Halliday, Resnick, &
Walker, 2014). This law implies that a greater force applied to an object (towing force) will
result in a greater acceleration, assuming the mass remains constant. Similarly, increasing the
mass of an object requires more force (towing force) to achieve the same acceleration, resulting
in a decrease in acceleration.

The purpose of this experiment is to investigate the relationship between force, mass, and
acceleration, as stated by Newton's second law of motion (Halliday, Resnick, & Walker, 2014).
Newton's second law states that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net
force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass. By conducting this experiment, we
aimed to explore how changes in force and mass affect the acceleration of an object.

Understanding the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration is fundamental in

numerous practical applications. For example, engineers use this knowledge to design vehicles,
calculate the motion of projectiles, and develop safety measures for various systems (Serway &
Jewett, 2018). By conducting controlled experiments and analyzing the results, we can gain
insights into the underlying principles governing motion and apply this knowledge to solve real-
world problems.
In this experiment, the mass of the trolley is varied for trial 1 to trial 5, while the towing force is
kept constant. The linear position is then measured by marking the paper strips every 0.2s.
Acceleration is then calculated from the slope of the graph of linear distance against time
squared. By changing force applied to the trolley, the effect is observed on the trolley's
acceleration.

Through this experiment, Newton's second law of motion is verified and the understanding of the
relationship between force, mass, and acceleration.

OBJECTIVES
The main objective of this experiment is to verify that acceleration of a mass in a trolley's case is
directly proportional to the applied force and inversely proportional to the object's mass. In this
method that we are u sing we are going to make sure that the towing/ pulling force is kept
constant and only the mass of the trolley will be changed

PROCEDURE

The paper strip was inserted between the roller and the marker and one end of it was clamped to
the trolley while the other end was clamped to the weight hanger. The weight hanger was
connected through the hole in the paper clip. The reference load was added to the weight hanger
in such a way that the trolley will move slowly at a constant speed maintaining the strip paper at
its maximum level of straightness throughout the trial. This weight was recorded in Table 1 of
each, and every trial performed.

The mass of the trolley was also recorded into Table 1 of each, and every trial performed. The
trolley was brought to the back of the track and was kept in position using the lock pin through
the holes in the precision track. The lock pin was removed, and the trolley could move constantly
on the precision track. The trolley was returned to the rest position and the lock pin was again
placed to keep the trolley in position.

The 5×0.29 kg (2.9N) weights were added to the trolley and 0.4N was added to the towing
weights on the weight hanger. This added 0.4N is sufficient to overcome the friction in the
moving parts of the setup. The marker was turned on by switching on the electronic box and
releasing the lock pin for the trolley to start moving. The trolley accelerated as the weight hanger
fell to the ground. As the paper strip was passing through the marker, the marks were made on it
at regular intervals of time (about 0.2seconds). The actual towing weight was recorded in Table 1
and the same weight will be used in all the trials.

At the end of every trial the paper strip was removed and marked to identify points of reference.
The 0.29 kg weights were removed one by one, and each trial was repeated following the
procedure above with the same acceleration weights. The last trial was made with no weight on
the trolley making all trials to be 6.

TABLE 1
TRIAL1 TRIAL2 TRIAL3 TRIAL4 TRIAL5

Trolley Mass, kg 0.932 0.932 0.932 0.932 0.932

Weight on Trolley, 1.45 1.16 0.87 0.58 0.29

kg
Hanger Mass for 0.0981 0.0981 0.0981 0.0981 0.0981
constant speed,
N
Added towing 0.80 0.80 0.80 0.80 0.80
mass, N

TABLE 2
Towing Force F (N)
Interval Linear Distances, m Time, t(s) Time
number
TRIAL5 TRIAL4 TRIAL3 TRIAL2 TRIAL1

1 0.008 0.004 0.005 0.004 0.002 0.20 0.04

2 0.020 0.014 0.015 0.014 0.007 0.40 0.16
3 0.042 0.030 0.029 0.027 0.015 0.60 0.36
4 0.069 0.052 0.047 0.044 0.022 0.80 0.64
5 0.103 0.079 0.069 0.066 0.042 1.00 1.00
6 0.142 0.111 0.095 0.091 0.060 1.20 1.44
7 0.187 0.148 0.125 0.121 0.081 1.40 1.96
8 0.236 0.190 0.160 0.154 0.105 1.60 2.56
9 0.292 0.236 0.197 0.189 0.133 1.80 3.24
10 0.350 0.286 0.237 0.228 0.164 2.00 4.00
11 0.414 0.339 0.283 0.269 0.197 2.20 4.84
12 0.481 0.397 0.330 0.313 0.234 2.40 5.76
13 0.552 0.458 0.382 0.359 0.273 2.60 6.76
14 0.625 0.522 0.436 0.409 0.315 2.80 7.84
15 0.704 0.590 0.493 0.461 0.353 3.00 9.00
CALCULATIONS
TRIAL 1
𝑦 2− 𝑦 1 0.060 −0.040 0.020 𝑚 0.045 𝑚
Gradient= = = 2 =
𝑥 2− 𝑥 1 1.44 −1.00 0.44 𝑡 𝑠
2

𝑚 𝑚
𝑎=2 x gradient= 2 x 0.045 2=
0.090 2
𝑠 𝑠

𝑓 0.80 𝑁 +0.981 𝑁 0.898 𝑁 𝑁

𝑎= = = =0.3
𝑚 1.45 𝑘𝑔− 0.932𝑘𝑔 2.382𝑘𝑔 𝑘𝑔
TRIAL 2
𝑦 2− 𝑦 1 0.091− 0.066 0.025 𝑚 0.057 𝑚
Gradient= = = 2 =
𝑥 2− 𝑥 1 1.44 −1.00 0.44 𝑡 𝑠
2

𝑚 𝑚
𝑎=2 x gradient= 2 x0.057 2=
0.114 2
𝑠 𝑠

𝑓 0.80 𝑁 +0.981 𝑁 0.898 𝑁 𝑁

𝑎= = = =0.4
𝑚 1.16 𝑘𝑔− 0.932 𝑘𝑔 0.424 𝑘𝑔 𝑘𝑔

TRIAL 3
 𝑦 2− 𝑦 1 0.095 −0.069 0.026 𝑚 0.059 𝑚
Gradient= = = 2 =
𝑥 2− 𝑥 1 1.44 −1.00 0.44 𝑡 𝑠
2

𝑚 𝑚
𝑎=2 x gradient= 2 x0.059 2=
0.118 2
𝑠 𝑠

𝑓 0.80 𝑁 + 0.981 𝑁 0.898 𝑁 𝑁

𝑎= = = =0.5
𝑚 0.87 𝑘𝑔 −0.932 𝑘𝑔 1.802𝑘𝑔 𝑘𝑔
TRIAL 4
𝑦 2− 𝑦 1 0.111− 0.079 0.032𝑚 0.073 𝑚
Gradient= = = 2 =
𝑥 2− 𝑥 1 1.44 −1.00 0.44 𝑡 𝑠
2

𝑚 𝑚
𝑎 =2 x gradient= 2 x0.073 2=
0.146 2
𝑠 𝑠

𝑓 0.80 𝑁 +0.981 𝑁 0.898 𝑁 𝑁

𝑎= = = = 0.6
𝑚 0.58 𝑘𝑔− 0.932 𝑘𝑔 1.512𝑘𝑔 𝑘𝑔

TRIAL 5
𝑦 2− 𝑦 1 0.142− 0.103 0.039 𝑚 0.087 𝑚
Gradient= = = 2 =
𝑥 2− 𝑥 1 1.44 −1.00 0.44 𝑡 𝑠
2

𝑚 𝑚
𝑎=2 x gradient= 2 x0.087 2=
0.174 2
𝑠 𝑠

𝑓 0.80 𝑁 +0.981 𝑁 0.898 𝑁 𝑁

𝑎= = = = 0.7
𝑚 0.29 𝑘𝑔− 0.932 𝑘𝑔 1.222𝑘𝑔 𝑘𝑔

DISCUSSION

The acceleration lab experiment aimed to verify that the acceleration of a mass (in this case, a
trolley) is proportional to the applied force. The experiment involved varying the mass of the
trolley while keeping the towing force constant and, then measuring the linear distance marked at
0.2s interval. The data collected from the experiment was used to calculate acceleration by
multiplying the slope of the plot of linear distance (y-axis) against the time 2 (x-axis). The results
provided insights into Newton's second law of motion, which states that the acceleration of an
object is directly proportional to the net force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass
(Halliday, Resnick, & Walker, 2014).

The experiment's results showed a clear positive correlation between linear distance and travelled
time squared. As expected, when the force acting on the trolley decreased while the towing force
remained constant, the acceleration of the also decreased. This observation aligns with Newton's
second law, which predicts that a greater force applied to an object will result in a greater
acceleration, assuming the mass remains constant. However, despite this confirmation of
newton's second law, there is some deviation between experimental and theoretical acceleration
calculated from, a = F / m.

This deviation is contributed to by errors or uncertainties in the experiment results. These include
friction between the trolley and the track, which is not accounted for, inaccuracies in
measurements of linear distance on paper strip, and variations in the applied force which causes
non uniform taut in the paper strip for the different trials. Friction, even though it is not much,
could have affected the trolley's motion, causing deviations from the expected acceleration
values. Additionally, human reaction time error in starting the impact marker and releasing the
trolley could introduce inaccuracies in the data.

To minimize sources of error and improve the accuracy of the experiment, several adjustments
and additional investigations could be considered. Lubricating the wheels of the trolley could
reduce friction and improve the consistency of the trolley's motion. Furthermore, exploring the
effects of varying other factors, such as the angle of the track or the presence of additional forces
like air resistance, could provide a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship
between force, mass, and acceleration.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the acceleration lab experiment provided valuable insights into Newton's second
law of motion and the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration. Despite potential
sources of error, the results demonstrated theoretical expectation and proved the acceleration of
mass (trolley) is proportional to the applied force. By addressing sources of error and conducting
further investigations, future experiments can refine our understanding of these fundamental
principles of physics and their practical applications.
REFERENCES

Halliday, D., Resnick, R., & Walker, J. (2014). Fundamentals of Physics (10th ed.). John Wiley
& Sons.
Serway, R. A., & Jewett, J. W. (2018). Physics for Scientists and Engineers. Cengage Learning.

REFERENCES

Halliday, D., Resnick, R., & Walker, J. (2014). Fundamentals of Physics (10th ed.). John Wiley
& Sons.