Lab 6: Newton’s Second Law

Pre-lab Questions:
1. What is the metric unit of force?

2. The imperial system of measurement uses pounds (lb) to measure force.

a) Which unit represents a larger force: 1 pound or 1 of the units you named in question 1?

b) What is the conversion factor between these two units of force?

3. If you push a bowling ball and a tennis ball with the same force, which ball will have the larger
acceleration?

4. If you want the bowling ball and the tennis ball to have the same acceleration, which ball needs to
be pushed with the larger force?

5. How many times will you collect data for each scenario in the lab? (How many trials for each
weight distribution?)

6. In part I, how much extra mass do you add to the cart for each scenario?

7. In part II, how much mass do you add to the weight hanger for each scenario?

8. What is the difference in how you will be calculating the “experimental” acceleration and the
“theoretical” acceleration?

Objective
• Explore Newton’s Second Law of Motion.
• Understand how the concepts of force, mass, and acceleration are related to one another.

Apparatus
PAScar Smart Cart, 1.2 m Dynamics Track, PASPORT USB Link, Super Pulley with Clamp, Mass
Hanger with string , Mass Set, Screw in Hook, Balance or Scale, cart stopper

Introduction
A force is any push or pull that is exerted on an object. Forces come in a variety of forms, including
gravity, friction, magnetism, tension, etc. In the metric system, the strength of these forces is measured in
a unit called a Newton (N).

In the year 1687 Sir Isaac Newton published his famous book, Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia
Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy). In this book he introduces the laws of
motion. The first two laws are concerned with how force and motion are connected as follows:
• Every object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to change
its state by the action of an external force.
• The acceleration of an object as produced by a net force is directly proportional to the magnitude
of the net force, in the same direction as the net force, and inversely proportional to the mass of
the object.
 Newton’s First Law is also called the Law of Inertia. It means that objects want to keep their motion
constant. An example of this would be a passenger in a moving car. If the car comes to an abrupt halt, the
passenger will continue to move forward until they run into an object in front of them. This is why cars
have seat belts.
Newton’s Second Law means that if a net force is applied to an object, the object’s motion must
change; the object must change speed, direction, or both. The concept is often expressed as the equation,

𝐹⃗!"# = 𝑚𝑎⃗ (Equation 1)

where Fnet is the vector sum of all the forces acting on the object measured in N, m is the mass of the
object measured in kg, and a is the acceleration of the object measured in m/s2. From this equation we
can see that acceleration is directly proportional to the force applied, meaning that increasing the force
will increase the acceleration. The equation also shows the acceleration is inversely proportional to mass,
meaning that increasing the mass will decrease the acceleration if the force is the same.
Equation 1 also shows that force and acceleration are both vectors. This means that to find the net
force, the direction of each individual force must be considered when they are added together. In Figure
1, the net force would be +110 N to the right because there is a total of 670 N pushing to the right and 560
N pushing to the left. Since the net force in Figure 1 is to the right, it also means the acceleration will be
toward the right.

Figure 1: Three forces are acting on the car. Since the

net force is to the right, the acceleration will be to the
right.

In this lab, you will be determining the

acceleration of a cart on a track using two different techniques and then comparing the results. First, you
will find the experimental acceleration using the kinematic equations:
$
𝑥 = % 𝑎𝑡 % + 𝑣& 𝑡
𝑣 = 𝑎𝑡 + 𝑣& ,
𝑣'% = 𝑣(% + 2𝑎(∆𝑥)
$
∆𝑥 = % .𝑣& + 𝑣' /𝑡 (Equations 2 – 5)

Next you will calculate the theoretical acceleration using Newton’s Second Law. With mass mC
representing the cart and mH representing the hanging weights, the total mass of the system is mC + mH.
The light string is considered to be of negligible mass. The force on the system is caused by the weight of
the hanging mass, mH * g. In this case, Newton’s Second Law can be re-written as

𝑚) 𝑔 = (𝑚* + 𝑚) )𝑎
Solving for a, the equation for the theoretical acceleration becomes
 +! ,
𝑎= (Equation 6)
+" -+!

mC
Figure 2: Experimental setup. Note
that the string should be parallel to
the track.

mH
Part I: Exploring the effects of changing mass
For this part, you will keep the force applied to the cart constant but increase the mass of the cart.

Procedure:
1. The Dynamics Track has a fixed end stop at one end.

2. Attach the Pulley to the other end of the Dynamics Track.

3. Put the cart on the track. If the cart moves one way or the other, use the leveling screw under the
fixed end stop to level the track.
NOTE: It is very important that the track is level in order to get good results.

4. Place a 20-g mass on the mass hanger and weigh the hanger plus the mass. Record the mass of the
hanger plus the one 20-g mass in Table 1.

5. Attach a screw-in hook to one end of the cart. Weigh the cart and record the initial mass of the
cart in Table 1.

6. Put the cart on the track with the +x arrow pointing towards the pulley.

7. Tie the piece of string attached to the mass hanger (about 1.2 m long) to the hook. Put the string
in the pulley's groove. Adjust the pulley up or down so the string is parallel to the track as shown
in Figure 2. Place a wooden block or any object in front of the cart to stop it from moving. Make
sure the 20 gm weight is attached to the hanger.

8. Turn on the smart cart by pressing the black button on its side. Open appropriate program on the
computer and make sure it is ready to take data.

9. Pull the cart back to the point that the mass hanger is right under the pulley.

10. Detach the string from the hook on the cart to release the force and then zero the force sensor by
from the hardware setup tab. Put the string back on the hook after zeroing.

11. Click on the record button to start recording.

 12. Record the position and velocity for the listed times in the columns for Trial 1 of Table 1 at the
end of the lab. Show the data to your TA before you collect further data.

Please show your data to your data to the TA before proceeding further ____________ (initials)

13. Reset the cart to its initial position where the mass hanger is right below the pulley and repeat
steps 9-12 two more times. Record the time, position, and velocity data as Trial 2 and Trial 3 in
Table 1.

14. Add a 100-gram weight on the cart. (You should now have the same 20-grams on the mass
hanger but one 100-gram weight on the cart.)

15. Repeat steps 9-12 three times. Record three sets of data in Table 2.

16. Add another 100-gram weight on the cart. (You should now have the same 20 grams on the mass
hanger and two 100-gram weights on the cart.)

17. Repeat steps 9-12 three more times. Record these three sets of data in Table 3.

Calculations:
Show a sample of your work in the space below each data table.

1. Pick a kinematic equation from equations 2 – 5 that can be used to find the acceleration for each
of the nine trials you conducted. Record each calculated acceleration at the bottom of each trial
in the data tables.

OR
Plot velocity vs time on graph paper to find acceleration as the slope and compare it with
equation 6.

2. For each data table, calculate the average experimental acceleration.

3. Use Equation 6 to calculate the theoretical acceleration for each data table.

4. Find the percent error between your average experimental and theoretical acceleration for each
data table.

𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑐𝑐 − 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑐𝑐

% 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = 𝑥100%
𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑐𝑐
In-class questions:

1. Did the experimental acceleration increase or decrease as you added mass to the cart?

2. Did the theoretical acceleration increase or decrease as you added mass to the cart?

3. What possible sources of error could account for why the experimental and theoretical
accelerations values are not exactly the same.

Part II: Exploring the effects of changing force

For this part, you will keep the mass of the cart constant but increase the amount of force applied.

Procedure:
1. Place one 20-g mass on the mass hanger and weigh the hanger plus the mass. Record the mass of
the hanger plus the one 20-g mass in Table 4.

2. Place two 20-g masses on the cart. Weigh the cart and record the initial mass of the cart plus the
two 20-g masses in Table 4.

3. Pull the cart back to the beginning of the track. Repeat the data collection process from Part I.

4. Record the position and velocity in the columns for Trial 1 of Table 4 at the end of the lab.
Choose a set of data points before the cart reaches the end of the track. Show your data to the TA.

Please show your data to your data to the TA before proceeding further ____________ (initials)

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 two more times. Record the time, position, and velocity data as Trial 2 and
Trial 3 in Table 4.
 6. Take one of the 20-g masses from the top of the cart and place it on the mass hanger. (You
should now have 40-grams on the mass hanger and one 20-gram weight on the cart.)

7. Repeat steps 3-5 three times. Record three sets of data in Table 5.

8. Take the last 20-g mass from the top of the cart and place it on the mass hanger. (You should
now have 60-grams on the mass hanger and no weight on the cart.)

9. Repeat steps 3-5 three times. Record three sets of data in Table 6.

Calculations:
Show a sample of your work in the space below each data table.

1. Pick one of the kinematic equations (Equations 2 – 5), and use it to find the acceleration for each
of the nine trials you conducted. Record each calculated acceleration at the bottom of each trial
in the data tables.

2. For each data table, calculate the average experimental acceleration.

3. Use Equation 6 to calculate the theoretical acceleration for each data table.

4. Find the percent error between your average experimental acceleration and the theoretical
acceleration for each data table.

In-class questions:

1. As you increased the force applied to the system, did the experimental acceleration increase or
decrease?

2. As you increased the force applied to the system, did the theoretical acceleration increase or
decrease?

3. What possible sources of error could account for why the experimental and theoretical
accelerations values are not exactly the same.
Homework questions:

1. Thinking about the data you collected for each trial, describe how you could use your data to
determine the acceleration using a graph.

2. Based on Newton's Second Law, predict what will happen to a rocket’s acceleration after liftoff
as it burns its fuel? Explain.

3. In the amusement park ride known as Magic Mountain Superman, powerful magnets accelerate a
car and its riders from rest to 45 m/s (about 100 mi/h) in a time of 7.0 s. The mass of the car and
riders is 5,500 kg. Find the average net force exerted on the car and riders by the magnets.

4. An unloaded sled with a mass of 12 kg has an acceleration of 2.3 m/s2 when it is pushed on a
horizontal surface with a net force of 27.6 N. What is its acceleration when it is fully loaded to 25
kg and the net force is the same?
Data Tables:

Table 1: 20 g on the mass hanger, no extra mass on the cart

Total hanger mass = Total cart mass =

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

t x v t x v t x v
(sec) ( ) ( ) (sec) ( ) ( ) (sec) ( ) ( )
0.2

0.4
0.6
0.8

1.0
1.2
1.4

1.6
1.8
2.0

acceleration = acceleration = acceleration =

Ave experimental acc = _______________ Theoretical acc = _________________

% Difference = _____________________

CALCULATIONS:
Table 2: 20 g on the mass hanger, 100 g on the cart

Total hanger mass = Total cart mass =

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
t x v t x v t x v
(sec) ( ) ( ) (sec) ( ) ( ) (sec) ( ) ( )
0.2

0.4
0.6

0.8
1.0

1.2
1.4
1.6

1.8
2.0
acceleration = acceleration = acceleration =

Ave experimental acc = _______________ Theoretical acc = _________________

% Difference = _____________________

CALCULATIONS
Table 3: 20 g on the mass hanger, 200 g on the cart

Total hanger mass = Total cart mass =

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
t x v t x v t x v
(sec) ( ) ( ) (sec) ( ) ( ) (sec) ( ) ( )
0.2

0.4
0.6

0.8
1.0

1.2
1.4
1.6

1.8
2.0
acceleration = acceleration = acceleration =

Ave experimental acc = _______________ Theoretical acc = _________________

% Difference = _____________________

CALCULATIONS:

Please show your data to your TA before proceeding further ____________ (initials)
Table 4: 20 g on the mass hanger, 40 g on the cart

Total hanger mass = Total cart mass =

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
t x v t x v t x v
(sec) ( ) ( ) (sec) ( ) ( ) (sec) ( ) ( )
0.2

0.4
0.6

0.8
1.0

1.2
1.4
1.6

1.8
2.0
acceleration = acceleration = acceleration =

Ave experimental acc = _______________ Theoretical acc = _________________

% Difference = _____________________

CALCULATIONS:
Table 5: 40 g on the mass hanger, 20 g on the cart

Total hanger mass = Total cart mass =

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
t x v t x v t x v
(sec) ( ) ( ) (sec) ( ) ( ) (sec) ( ) ( )
0.2

0.4
0.6

0.8
1.0

1.2
1.4
1.6

1.8
2.0
acceleration = acceleration = acceleration =

Ave experimental acc = _______________ Theoretical acc = _________________

% Difference = _____________________

CALCULATIONS:
Table 6: 60 g on the mass hanger, no extra mass on the cart

Total hanger mass = Total cart mass =

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
t x v t x v t x v
(sec) ( ) ( ) (sec) ( ) ( ) (sec) ( ) ( )
0.2

0.4
0.6

0.8
1.0

1.2
1.4
1.6

1.8
2.0
acceleration = acceleration = acceleration =

Ave experimental acc = _______________ Theoretical acc = _________________

% Difference = _____________________

CALCULATIONS:

Please have the instructor sign here before you leave the lab. This confirms that you have completed the
in-lab portion of the lab report. _________________________________
Instructor’s Final approval / Date