The question
Name: ______________________ Date: ____________ Measuring a cart's acceleration down a ramp (10 points)
Data table
Release distance and time on a ramp
A group wants to find the acceleration of a cart rolling down a long, straight ramp, which they expect to be constant. They have a cart, the ramp, a meterstick and a stopwatch, and they may use a photogate. In part (c) you will use their data below: for each release distance d, measured along the ramp from the release point to a photogate at the bottom, they released the cart from rest three times and recorded the time t to reach the photogate.
| d (m) | Trial 1 t (s) | Trial 2 t (s) | Trial 3 t (s) | Average t (s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.20 | 0.69 | 0.71 | 0.70 | 0.70 |
| 0.40 | 0.98 | 0.95 | 0.98 | 0.97 |
| 0.60 | 1.22 | 1.19 | 1.22 | 1.21 |
| 0.80 | 1.36 | 1.39 | 1.36 | 1.37 |
| 1.00 | 1.56 | 1.53 | 1.56 | 1.55 |
(a) Describe a procedure the group could use to collect data from which the cart's acceleration can be found. Name each quantity measured and the instrument used to measure it, and include a way to reduce experimental uncertainty. [3 points]
(b) Indicate what quantities the group should plot to produce a linear graph, and explain how the acceleration of the cart can be found from that graph. [2 points]
(c) Plot the data on the axes provided, using the quantities from part (b). Label the axes with quantities and units, use a linear scale, and draw a best-fit line. [3 points]
(d) Calculate the acceleration of the cart using the best-fit line from part (c). [2 points]