Two Ramp Experiment

course Phy 121

There are obviously imperfections in the ramps. However, if the ramps were made exactly alike, i think that my data would be the same no matter where the ball started from.

Im am doing the experiment that asks to find the PE change in the two ramp system. For starting the ball at different points, I am to find the PE change from one ramp to the other and then find the % difference between the two. I ran the experement 4 times and found that the table was not level so I added two paperclips and a piece of thin metal to the originally stated 2 dominoes. This made the system level and i have now begun to run the experements again. I have ran it 3 times from 3 different starting points and the results are as follows:

#1 Ball started at the top of the first ramp. The change in PE from A-B was -.0055J. The change in PE from B-C was .0031J. There is a 43.6% difference here.

#2 Ball started at the middle of the first ramp. The change in PE from A-B was -.0033J. The change in PE from B-C was .0017J. There is a 48.4% difference here.

#3 Ball started from halfway up the second ramp. The change in PE from A-B was -.0072J. The change in PE from B-C was .0033J. There is a 54.2% difference here. "

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Good start. Let's see what happens as the angle of the V starts to change. If the small change you used in Friday's class doesn't indicate a difference, try a bigger change. With a larger angle the question of whether the table is level will become less significant.