158-M5 Manual Addendum: Newtons Second Law

V: Procedure
Before you attempt any measurements make sure that air is provided to the track at an adequate pressure. Examine the air supply arrangement. Air comes through the pipe and passes through a shutoff valve, then a regulator and then into the air track. The regulator has a threaded T handle protruding from the top-this how pressure should be regulated. Do not attempt to regulate pressure using the shutoff valve because as the air system pressure fluctuates (as it certainly will with 9 airtracks running concurrently), there may not be sufficient flow to maintain the pressure set by the regulator. Slowly open the shutoff valve and watch the pressure. With the shutoff valve fully opened, the pressure gauge should read between 14 and 18 psi. Generally, shutoff valves close when turned clockwise (or to the right when looking at the top of the handwheel) and open when turned to the left. This is the same arrangement as most standard threaded fasteners, giving rise to the surprisingly useful mneumonic Righty-Tighty, Lefty-Loosey All of the cutoff valves in the labs are of this variety. There is somewhat less standardization in pressure regulators, but more often than not they work in the opposite fashion-clockwise (Righty) turning of the adjustment handle will open them and raise the output pressure while counterclockwise (Lefty)will close them off and reduce the output pressure. Once the air pressure is set in the stated range, it will be further adjusted to minimize friction. Another preliminary task is to record the masses of all flags, the glider and the mass holder to the nearest 0.1 g. Selection of air pressure for the air track USE PRE-SELECTED PRESSURE. IF THERE IS A PROBLEM, DO THE FOLLOWING TOGETHER WITH YOUR TA. Step 1: Setup the airtrack as described in section V3, with 10 g on the mass hanger and 40 g on the glider, distributed as evenly as possible. Step 2: Select a start position for the glider and an air pressure (say 16 psi) Step 3: Measure the time t it takes the flag to pass through the photogate Step 4: Increase the air pressure by 2psi and measure the new time t' Step 5: If t' < t then go to step 4 If t' = t then stop. Do not exceed 22 psi into the air track. Leveling the air track Now the air track must be leveled. Place the track in the desired position on the lab table. Once the track is leveled it must not be moved. It is recommended that heavy objects, such as a few textbooks, be placed in front of the air track legs to help keep the track from sliding if the glider impacts bumper at the end of the track. Place the glider in the middle of the track, with no masses on the glider and without the mass hanger pulling on the glider. The glider

should remain stationary. If the glider begins to drift, you must raise or lower the pulley end by adjusting the leg (which is a threaded rod) until the glider will remain stationary.

Measurement of d in sections V-1, V-2 and V-3 - Place the photogate approximately in the middle of the air track - Record the position L of the rear end of the glider at the start position (see fig.a) - With the air on, hold onto the glider and slowly approach the photogate. When the photogate counter starts counting, the leading edge of the flag is at the center of the photogate (see fig.b). This is the position L'. Record the new position L of the rear end of the glider. Distance d = L - L' d photogate flag glider M1 Air-track
L or L

Fig.a

M2 photogate glider Air-track

flag d = L - L' M1

L or L

L'

Fig.b

M2

V-1: We can make a quantitative estimate of the force of friction by implementing the steps of figure 3 (in the manual). Proceed as follows: Set the photocell gate near the center of the air track. Place a 10 cm flag on the glider, and 40 g on the mass holder. Ensure the photogate timer is in Gate mode with the memory switch in the On position, and you should be reading the 0.1 ms scale. Press the red reset button on the photogate timer. With the glider between the photogate and the pulley, give the glider a gentle push away from the pulley towards the photogate. The glider will travel along the track, pass through the photogate, stop, and reverse direction. It will then pass through the photogate on its way back toward the pulley. One person must record the location of the edge of the glider furthest from the

photogate when the glider stops. This position is L, and using the procedure detailed above, d can be calculated. The number shown on the display is t1. Record this number and then move the memory switch to Read. The display now shows t1 + t2. Calculate t2. After calculating the accelerations(equation 1b in the manual) for each direction, equation 9 in the lab manual can be used to calculate the frictional force. V-2: In this part of the experiment, you will keep the acceleration, a, constant and vary the length of the flag, l. According to equation 1b, if we keep a constant and vary l (which will in turn change s), we should find that s is proportional to t2. Stated another way, a plot of s vs. t2 should yield a straight line with a slope of a/2. You will measure t for a variety of l by using flags of various lengths and verify this relationship. We will keep the hanging mass at 10 g on the mass holder, providing a constant force on your glider/hanging mass system. Since the entire exercise hinges on maintaining a constant acceleration, and the force acting on our system is kept constant, you must maintain a constant mass in your system. Please see equation 2 in the manual if this is unclear. You have been provided with four flags of length 5, 10, 20 and 30 cm. These can be affixed to the glider using masking tape. Since the flags of different length will have different masses, you will keep all four flags on the glider for the entire experiment. You will affix one flag to the top of the glider and distribute the other three on the sides of the glider as evenly as possible. After you have finished with your t measurements for a particular flag, you will affix it to the side of the glider, and place a different flag on top of the glider. Once you have 10 g hanging on the mass hanger, the 5 cm flag on top of the glider and the other three flags distributed on the sides of the glider you are ready to begin. Recall that d is the distance from the leading edge of the flag to the photogate at the point at which the glider is released. d must be kept constant, so you are advised to mount the flag at the pulley end of the glider, seated against the front of the center groove. That way, each subsequent flag can be seated against the same surface, and if you start the glider in the same position, d will remain fixed for all four flags. Record L and L on your data tables. The glider should be carefully released, without any initial velocity in any direction. Stop the glider by hand before it impacts the end of the air track, but only after the flag has passed completely through the photogate. Allowing the glider to impact the end of the track may cause it to shift slightly. This will negate your leveling, and force you to re-measure d since the track has moved but the photogate has not. For each flag of length l, you will take 4 readings of t. If your equipment is working properly and you are doing this correctly, your time values should repeat within about +/- 2 ms. Dont forget to record all of the relevant masses and positions listed on the data sheet. V-3: In this part, we will be keeping the distance, s (see equations 1a and 1b in the manual), constant, and varying the acceleration by varying M2. Once again, recall that the total mass of our system must remain constant to be able to get a linear relationship between force and acceleration. This means that masses will be moved between the glider and the mass holder to

change M2 (and therefore changing the force on our system) while keeping the total mass constant. You will use the 10 cm flag seated firmly against the front of the glider, and a small bit of tape is recommended to help keep its position on the glider fixed. Start out with 10 g on the mass holder and 40 g on the glider. As in V-2, you will be starting the glider in the same position for each trial, you will record L and L, and you will observe the same precautions as well. Record t four times. Now increase the mass on the mass holder by moving 10 grams from the glider to the holder. For each mass arrangement, you will record t four times.

VI: For the report

VI-1: Based on your measure of the accelerations in V-1, calculate and report the frictional force in this experiment. Compare it to the largest value of M2g. VI-2: In V-2, you obtained a series of values of s and t for fixed values of M2 and MT. This was done by varying l. Tabulate your data, including columns for l, ti, average t, (average t)2, and s. Plot s vs. (average t)2. The slope of this plot should be a/2. Using LINEST, calculate the uncertainty in the slope, and report your experimentally derived acceleration as aa. Compare this with the value that you would calculate for the acceleration based on the discussion in section III (Introduction) of the lab manual. Does the calculated value lie within the range determined by the plot slope and its uncertainty? VI-3: In V-3, you obtained a series of values of acceleration, a, corresponding to different hanging masses, M2. Tabulate your data, including columns for M2, ti, average t, (average t)2, and a. Plot a vs. M2, and using LINEST calculate the slope and the uncertainty in the slope. From equation 6 in the manual, the slope should be g/MT. Using your calculated slope and its uncertainty, report your value of g g. Does the accepted value of g lie in this range?

VII: Questions
VII-1: No change from the manual VII-2: No change from the manual VII-3: If the air track were not level, how would that affect your experimentally determined value of a in VI-2? Your answer should rely on solutions to equations generated by free body diagrams to show your result, and you must specify which direction the track is tilted. VII-4: No change from the manual. VII-5: The glider floats on a cushion of air to reduce friction. Suppose that this measure is ineffective, and there is a non-negligible friction force caused by physical contact between the glider and the track, and that the frictional force now does depend on the normal force. Show

analytically how it would affect your resultant calculation of g in section VI-3. For example, will this added friction cause your calculated value of g to increase or decrease?