P2130702

Free Fall with timer 2-1

The goal of this experiment is to understand the phenomena of the free fall and determine the acceleration due to gravity.

Physics Mechanics Dynamics & Motion

   
Difficulty level Group size Preparation time Execution time

easy 2 10 minutes 10 minutes

Robert-Bosch-Breite 10 Tel.: 0551 604 - 0 [email protected]

37079 Göttingen Fax: 0551 604 - 107 www.phywe.de
P2130702

General information

Application

An understanding of the free fall offers a first introduction

to the fundamental laws of motion, which govern all
phenomena in physics.

Additionally, the free fall can be used to demonstrate

gravity.

Setup

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Robert-Bosch-Breite 10 Tel.: 0551 604 - 0 [email protected]
37079 Göttingen Fax: 0551 604 - 107 www.phywe.de
P2130702

Other information (1/2)

Prior There is no prior knowledge necessary.

knowledge

Main A sphere falling freely covers certain distances. The falling time is measured and
evaluated from diagrams. The acceleration due to gravity can be determined.
principle

Other information (2/2)

Learning The goal of this experiment is to understand the phenomena of the free fall and
determine the acceleration due to gravity.
objective

Tasks 1. Determine the functional relationship between height of fall and falling time
(h = h(t) = 1/2g ⋅ t2 )

2. Determine the acceleration due to gravity.

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Robert-Bosch-Breite 10 Tel.: 0551 604 - 0 [email protected]
37079 Göttingen Fax: 0551 604 - 107 www.phywe.de
P2130702

Theory

If a body of mass m is accelerated from the state of rest in a constant gravitational field (gravitational force
Fg = m ⋅ g ⃗ ), it performs a linear motion.
By applying the coordinate system in a way that the x-axis indicates the direction of motion and solving the
corresponding one-dimensional equation of motion, we get:

d 2 h(t)
m (1)
dt2

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Robert-Bosch-Breite 10 Tel.: 0551 604 - 0 [email protected]
37079 Göttingen Fax: 0551 604 - 107 www.phywe.de
P2130702

Equipment
Position Material Item No. Quantity
1 PHYWE Timer 2-1 13607-99 1
2 Support base DEMO 02007-55 1
3 Release unit 02502-00 1
4 Impact switch 02503-00 1
5 Support rod, stainless steel, 1000 mm 02034-00 1
6 Right angle clamp expert 02054-00 2
7 Plate holder 02062-00 1
8 Meter scale, l = 1000 mm 03001-00 1
9 Cursors, 1 pair 02201-00 1
10 Connecting cord, 32 A, 1000 mm, red 07363-01 2
11 Connecting cord, 32 A, 1000 mm, blue 07363-04 2

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Robert-Bosch-Breite 10 Tel.: 0551 604 - 0 [email protected]
37079 Göttingen Fax: 0551 604 - 107 www.phywe.de
P2130702

Setup and Procedure

Setup and procedure (1/2)

The setup is shown in Fig. 1.

Connect the release unit to the “Start” sockets of the timer

2-1 and set the slide switch to rising edge (Fig. 2).
Connect the impact switch to the “Imp.” and the ground
socket associated with “Light barrier 1”. Set the rotary
switch to mode for time period measurement.

Fig. 1: Experimental setup

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Robert-Bosch-Breite 10 Tel.: 0551 604 - 0 [email protected]
37079 Göttingen Fax: 0551 604 - 107 www.phywe.de
P2130702

Setup and procedure (2/2)

To adjust the pan of the impact switch, use the adjusting

screw under the arrest switch. A downward motion of a
few tenths of a millimetre should close the stop circuit. The
pan is raised by hand after each single measurement
(initial position). For the effective determination of the
height of fall using the marking on the release mechanism,
the radius of the sphere must be taken into account
(diameter 3/4 inch, approx. 19 mm). The aerodynamic drag
of the sphere can be disregarded.

Press the “Reset” button anew for every measurement.

Fig. 2: Settings and connection to

timer 2-1

Evaluation

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Robert-Bosch-Breite 10 Tel.: 0551 604 - 0 [email protected]
37079 Göttingen Fax: 0551 604 - 107 www.phywe.de
P2130702

Evaluation (1/3)

Fig. 4: Height of fall as a function of the square

Fig. 3: Height of fall as a function of falling time.
of falling time.

Evaluation (2/3)

We obtain for the initial conditions h(0) = 0

dh(0)
dt
=0 (2)

the coordinate h as a function of time (see Fig. 3):

h(t) = 12 gt2 (3)

Fig. 5: Measured values of the

gravitational acceleration.

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Robert-Bosch-Breite 10 Tel.: 0551 604 - 0 [email protected]
37079 Göttingen Fax: 0551 604 - 107 www.phywe.de
P2130702

Evaluation (3/3)

The height is directly proportional to the square of time. This can be displayed by a representation of h(t2 )
as shown in Fig. 4.

From the regression line of the data, we can calculate the gravitational acceleration because the slope is
equal to 12 g according to equation (3).

For this measurement, we receive:

g = 9.77 m(s2 (theoretical value: g = 9.81 m(s2)

Fig. 5 shows the values of the gravitational acceleration for different measurements (with different heights of
fall).

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Robert-Bosch-Breite 10 Tel.: 0551 604 - 0 [email protected]
37079 Göttingen Fax: 0551 604 - 107 www.phywe.de