Recently in Physics, we did drop tests with various objects to learn about gravity and acceleration. By counting how far the object traveled every set amount of time, we could plot a graph for the velocity of the object, and then we could create an additional graph to study the acceleration of the object. Here is what some of my first graphs looked like:
The graph on the left shows the distance from the starting point of the object, plotted at every 50mm interval. The second graph is similar, but a point is plotted every 2 frames, instead of a specified distance. This makes it easier to graph acceleration. It was difficult to achieve an interval that was small enough to get smooth data and also maintain a high level of accuracy, which is why the second graph looks choppy. The dotted line on the second graph is a changing average trend line to show a more approximate graph of the movement of the object.
During the experiment, me and my partner learned how important it is to plan ahead. In our case, we struggled to see the increments on the meter stick we were using in the video of the drop test. What we could have done was make our own ruler with our set increment in a bright color, for example.
For anyone that doesn’t know much about gravity, here’s a quick overview: gravitational fields are created by any object with mass. Yes, people, and everything else that it on earth, has its own gravitational field. When you get something with a lot of mass, like Earth, you have really strong gravitational fields causing other objects to be attracted towards that object at a rate dependent on the mass of the object. Earth has a gravity of -9.8m/2^2, which means everything is attracted towards earth at 9.8 meters per second squared. A planet like mars has a gravity of -3.7m/2^2.
Learning gravity and acceleration by actually doing experiments involving them made it much easier to grasp the topic, and gave us real world data to work with.
Thanks for checking in,
-Graham
Graham's Inlab Experience 