Newton’s Second Law

INTRODUCTION
Newton’s first law implies that when the sum of the forces acting on an object is zero, its
velocity does not change. However, when a net force acts on the object, it accelerates. In this
experiment, you will determine the relationship between the net force acting on an object and its
acceleration.

OBJECTIVES
In this experiment, you will
 Identify the forces acting on an object both when its change in velocity, v, is zero and
when it is accelerating.
 Collect force, velocity, and time data as a cart is accelerated on a track.
 Use graphical methods to determine the acceleration of the cart.
 Determine the relationship between the cart’s acceleration and the net force applied to it.
 Determine the effect of the mass on the relationship between acceleration and force.

MATERIALS
Ruler standard hooked or slotted lab masses
Ball Vernier Dynamics Track
Dual-Range Force Sensor standard cart
Motion Detector One 10 g and two 20 g masses
50 g mass hanger

PRE-LAB INVESTIGATION
Use a ball and a flexible ruler to investigate these questions.
1. Apply a small amount of force to the ball by pushing the flat end of the ruler
against the ball. Maintain a constant bend in the ruler. You may need a lot
of clear space, and you may need to move with the ruler. Does the ball
move with a constant speed?

Your answer:

2. Apply a larger force and keep a constant larger bend in the ruler. Does the
ball move with a constant speed?

Your answer:

3. What is the difference between the movement when a small force is applied
versus a large force?

Your Answer:
Projectile Motion

Activity 1:
1. Attach an Ultra Pulley to the Pulley Bracket; attach this assembly to one end of the Dynamics
Track as shown below. Make sure that you have adjusted the track to make frictional forces
negligible.

2. Connect the Dual-Range Force Sensor (DFS) and a Motion Detector to the interface; then
start the Logger Pro. You will need only graphs of force vs. time and velocity vs. time, so you
can delete others and then re-size graphs to make them easier to see.

3. Attach the force sensor to the cart. Mount the motion detector at the end of the
track opposite the pulley. Set the motion detector switch to Track.

4. Determine the total mass of your cart along with the force sensor using the
balance available in the lab.

Mass of cart + force sensor = _________ g = __________ kg

(Useful conversion: 1 kg = 1000 g)

5. Set up data collection.

6. Position the cart so that the mass hanger is more than 30 cm from the floor, disconnect the
mass hanger from the force sensor, then zero the force sensor. Make sure the starting position
of the cart is at least 20 cm from the motion detector.

7. Re-connect the mass hanger, begin collecting data, then release the cart. Catch the mass
hanger before it strikes the floor.

8. Examine the force vs. time graph. Explain why the force reading decreases as the cart is
released and accelerates (Hint: Drawing a free body diagram will help).

Your answer:

To determine the force acting on the cart, select the portion of the force vs. time graph
corresponding to the interval during which the cart’s velocity was changing smoothly. Find
the statistics for this interval. Record the mean value in the table below as string tension F T.
 9. To determine the acceleration of the cart, perform a linear fit on the portion of the velocity
vs. time graph during which the velocity is changing smoothly.

Record the values of acceleration, hanging mass m2 (just the mass hanger), cart mass m1 (cart
+ force sensor), total mass (cart mass + hanging mass), and the net force or the force of
gravity that causes both masses to move Fg = m2g (where g = 9.8 m/s2) in the table below.

10. Now add the 10 g mass to the mass hanger. Repeat steps above to find the string tension and
the acceleration for this new hanging mass (hanger + 10 g). Record data in the table.

11. Repeat steps above for hanging mass = hanger + 20 g, hanger + 30 g, hanger + 40 g, and
hanger + 50 g. Record all the data in the table.

Trial m1 (cart mass) m2 (hanging mass) Acceleration Total mass String Tension Net Force
mT = m 1 + m 2
(kg) (kg) (m/s2) (kg) FT (N) Fg = m2g (N)

Evaluation of Data

1. To evaluate the relationship between acceleration and force, disconnect the sensors and
choose New from the File menu.

2. Create two New Manual Columns and enter the data for acceleration a, and string tension FT.

2. Plot a graph of string tension FT vs. acceleration.

3. If the relationship between force and acceleration appears to be linear, fit a straight line to
your data. Write down the best fit equation.

Your answer:

Compare the slope against the different parameters in the table above, does it match with any of
those?

Your answer:
Projectile Motion
Try the fit one more time, but this time instead of using the liner fit y = mx + b, use the
proportionality y = mx by forcing b = 0, does your slope match any better now?

Your answer:

4. Write an equation that describes the relationship between the force of string tension acting on
the cart and the cart’s acceleration.

Your answer:

5. Draw the free body diagrams for the cart clearly identifying all the forces acting on the cart
(assuming that the friction is negligible).

Your answer:

Activity 2:
1. We will repeat the same steps as in activity 1, but this time we will keep the total mass of the
system (cart plus the hanging mass) fixed, by adding or subtracting the masses attached to the
cart and the hanger).

2. Connect the Dual-Range Force Sensor (DFS) and a Motion Detector to the interface; then
start the data-collection program.

4. Determine the total mass of your cart, force sensor, and any additional rubber bands that you
will use to attach additional masses to the cart using the lab balance.

Mass of cart+force sensor+rubber bands = _________ g = __________ kg

(Useful conversion: 1 kg = 1000 g)

5. Now one 10 g and two 20 g masses to the top of the cart and securely fasten these masses to
the cart using the rubber bands.

6. Position the cart so that the mass hanger is more than 30 cm from the floor, disconnect the
mass hanger from the force sensor, then zero the force sensor. Make sure the starting position
of the cart is at least 20 cm from the motion detector.

7. Re-connect the mass hanger, begin collecting data, then release the cart. Catch the mass
hanger before it strikes the floor.

8. To determine the force acting on the cart, select the portion of the force vs. time graph
corresponding to the interval during which the cart’s velocity was changing smoothly. Find
the statistics for this interval. Record the mean value in the table below as string tension F T.
 9. To determine the acceleration of the cart, perform a linear fit on the portion of the velocity
vs. time graph during which the velocity is changing smoothly.

Record the values of acceleration, hanging mass m2 (just the mass hanger), cart mass m1 (cart
+ force sensor + rubber bands + added masses), total mass (cart mass + hanging mass), and
the net force or the force of gravity that causes both masses to move Fg = m2g (where g = 9.8
m/s2) in the table below.

10. Now remove the 10 g mass from the cart and add it to the mass hanger (keeping the two 20
masses attached to the cart). Repeat steps above to find the string tension and the acceleration
for this new hanging mass (hanger + 10 g). Record the data in the table.

11. Repeat steps above for hanging mass = hanger + 20 g, hanger + 30 g, hanger + 40 g, and
hanger + 50 g, while keeping the total mass fixed. Record all the data in the table.

Trial m1 (cart mass) m2 (hanging mass) Acceleration Total mass String Tension Net Force
mT = m 1 + m 2
(kg) (kg) (m/s2) (kg) FT (N) Fg = m2g (N)

Evaluation of Data

1. To evaluate the relationship between acceleration and force, disconnect the sensors and
choose New from the File menu.

2. Create two New Manual Columns and enter the data for the acceleration a, and net force F g.

2. Plot a graph of net force Fg vs. acceleration.

3. If the relationship between force and acceleration appears to be linear, fit a straight line to
your data. Write down the best fit equation.

Your answer:

Compare the slope against the different parameters in the table above, does it match with any of
those?

Your answer:
Projectile Motion
Try the fit one more time, but this time instead of using the liner fit y = mx + b, use the
proportionality y = mx by forcing b = 0, does your slope match any better now?

Your answer:

5. Write down the equation that represents the relationship between the net force, Fg, acting on
the total mass (cart and hanging mass), and a.

Your answer:

5. Draw the free body diagrams for the cart clearly identifying all the forces acting on the cart
(assuming that the friction is negligible).

Your answer:

6. Draw the free body diagrams for the hanging mass clearly identifying all the forces acting on
the hanging mass (assuming that the air resistance is negligible).

Your answer:

Make a prediction:

Attach 100 g mass to the cart using rubber bands. Find the mass of the cart along with the force
sensor, 100 g mass an the rubber bands.

Cart + force sensor + 100 g + rubber bands = ___________ g = ____________ kg

Without performing any experiment, make a prediction: What hanging mass would you need for
the cart to have acceleration a = 1.8 m/s2. Show all your work below.

m2 (prediction) = ___________ kg
What would be the string tension FT for the acceleration a = 1.8 m/s2. Show all your work below.

FT (prediction) = ___________ N

Now perform the experiment and find the actual values of hanging mass and the string tension
corresponding to a = 1.8 m/s2.

m2 (experiment) = ___________ kg FT (experiment) = ___________ N

Find the percent error for both experimental values compared to your predictions. Show all your
work below.

% error (m2) = _________________

% error (FT) = _________________