course PHY 201
Springier spring for class today?
rise dy (m)m slopex-floor(m)v-end of ramp (m/s)theta (deg)sin thetaa ramp (m/s2)0.1060.3490.3991.15119.20.333.22
0.111 0.365 0.404 1.187 20.1 0.34 3.37
0.121 0.398 0.412 1.259 21.7 0.37 3.62
0.131 0.431 0.422 1.344 23.3 0.4 3.88
0.141 0.464 0.428 1.421 24.9 0.42 4.13
0.151 0.497 0.438 1.523 26.4 0.44 4.36
It looks like there was some slipping because this graph is not a straight line- it curves upward at the end showing that the acceleration was increased by some slipping. I used the calculation program to get the velocities and then the equations you gave in class to find the angle theta and the acceleration:
Sin theta= m/sqrt(m2+1)
a= g sin theta
I am going to email you the graph because it would not let me paste it in here."
The graph looked good. We discussed it in class today. Comparing your work with that of another student, I suspect that there was some slipping well before the slope got into your range, and your comparitively greater slope would be consistent with this. However results aren't conclusive yet.
If the ball experiences no friction, then the parallel component of the weight will be m g sin(theta) and the acceleration will therefore be F_net / m = m g sin(theta) / m = g sin(theta). It follows that the graph of acceleration vs. sin(theta) will be a straight line with slope g. The slope of your graph was very close to g, which would indicate slipping with negligible friction. However there is some uncertainty in your results.
If you assume an uncertainty of +- 2 millimeters in your measurement of the landing position of the ball, what is the typical percent uncertainty in the horizontal range?
What would then be the approximate percent uncertainty in the ball's speed (hint: think about how the horizontal range is related to the speed)?
How much uncertainty could this bring about in the slope of the graph?