ANALYSIS:

For this experiment, kinematics is what its all about. And by definition,
kinematics is a branch of mechanics that consists of the study of motion without
considering the forces that cause or develop the motion. In short, kinematics is
concerned with the motion of objects. And so for this experiment, we will study the
motion of a particle in a straight line, it is said to be one-dimensional and the
simplest kind of motion.
The motion of the object for this experiment is represented by a particle. In
one dimensional motion, the particle can be considered moving along the x-axis
with a position that can be described at all times. There are two given objectives
for this experiment, that is to study motion by determining the velocity and
acceleration, and to determine experimentally the acceleration due to gravity. There
are several instructions that should be strictly obeyed like to not misuse the
components of the set-up, like the cart being used as a roller skate and to be sure to
use220V-AC source to power the smart timer.
There are a few formulas to be considered in trying to compute for the
velocity, and acceleration of the the particle. To compute the instantaneous
velocity of the particle, let the origin be the particles initial position. The
displacement is also needed for the computation.

x0

at the initial time

t0

, after

a time interval t, the particle is now at point x. instantaneous velocity of the particle
is equal to the instantaneous rate of change of position with time. Let the initial
position and time of the particle have a subscript of 0.
v x = lim

t0

x dx
=
t dt

(1)

And for the instantaneous acceleration of the particle is the limit of the
average acceleration as time interval approaches zero. When the velocity of the
particle changes at the same rate, the motion is said to be uniformly accelerated
with the acceleration.
a x = lim

t 0

v x d v x v 2v1
=
=
t
dt
t 2t 1

(2)

As for instances satisfying this conditions of constant acceleration equations,

there are three equations formed. These are velocity as a function of time, position
as a function of time, and velocity as a function of position.
v =v 0 +at
1 2
x=x 0+ v 0 t+ a t
2
v 2=v 02 +2 a( xx 0 )

(Velocity as a function of time)

(Position as a function of time)

(Velocity as a function of position)

When an objects motion over a levelled track is assumed frictionless, its

speed is uniform. But if the track is inclined at an angle , its motion is uniformly
accelerated. The acceleration is equal to the component of g, parallel to the
inclined track.

a=g +sin

where:
a = acceleration
g = 9.8

m
s2

= 980

cm
s2

= inclination
*when = 90 or a free-fall: a = g
If the body is dropped freely, its acceleration is equal to the gravitational pull near
the earths surface.
The given materials for this experiment are the following:
1pc Dynamics Cart(ME-9430)
1pc Dynamics track with angle indicator and end stop
2pcs Photogate
1pc Smart timer
2pcs Photogate mounting bracket
1pc Smart timer picket fence
1pc Meter stick
1pc Stand
This experiment was divided into three parts, part A, part B, and part C.

And for the first part, which is to determine the average velocity of a
dynamics cart. The first thing to do is to set-up the needed materials by placing the
photogates to a certain distance away from each other. But before doing so, the
track must be levelled until the cart will no longer move in other words, it will be
stationary on track. Next, is to connect the phone plug of photogate1 to channel
and phone plug of photogate 2 to channel 2 of the smart timer respectively and set
the mode of the start timer to measure TIME, TWO GATES. To begin the trial,
the spring plunger of the cart must first be cocked, place it to the cart at 0 cm end
and then launch it by pressing the trigger. The average velocity of the first trial
was given. Repeat the same procedures for the next trials but this time, change the
distance of the photogates. After gathering the data acquired from the trials, the
carts average speed can now be calculated using the formula in our equation 1.
During the experiment when we were setting-up the needed materials, we
had a couple of technical errors and difficulties specially on putting the gates on a
wrong place. Also, we accidentally switch the cable of gate 1 and gate 2. There are
also instances when the machine couldnt show any result from the running cart so
we fixed it by switching the cables.
In table 1, it is where all of the data gathered are listed. And with the given
information, is will be used to compute for average speed.
Table 1. Determination of the Average Velocity of a Dynamic Cart
X o =25 cm

Trial
1
2
3
4

Xf

65 cm
75 cm
85 cm
95 cm

X =X f X o

40 cm
50 cm
60 cm
70 cm

(timers rdg)
0.8563s
1.0703 s
1.2766 s
1.4611 s

v =

X
t

46.7126 cm/s
46.7158 cm/s
46.9998 cm/s
47.9091 cm/s

105 cm

80 cm

1.7177 s

46.5739 cm/s

For the second part of the experiment, which is to determine acceleration

due to gravity using Carts acceleration, the track is elevated to a certain length
with the help of the stand. For the first trial, the elevation of the end of the rack is
at 5 cm. Unlike in the first part, we will only need one gate for this part of the
experiment and the mode of the timer is changed into ACCEL, ONE GATE. For
this experiment, what we are required to do, is to compute the angle of inclination
of the rack using the data that will be acquired from the experiment. To start the
experiment after the set-up, place the cart at the top of the rack and then release
and record the reading from the timer. These procedures will be repeated 5 times
for the other trials but with increasing height. After the five trials, compute for the
angle of inclination, sin, the average gravity, time, and the percent error.
The table below is where the data gathered from part B is placed. And
managed to have a percent error of 1.08%..
Table 2. Determination of Acceleration
Due to Gravity Using Carts Acceleration
X o =18 cm

L=120 cm

X f =80 cm

Trial
1
2
3
4
5

5 cm
7 cm
9 cm
11 cm
13 cm

40.9 cm/s2
56.3 cm/s2
79.6 cm/s2
91.4 cm/s2
102.2 cm/s2

X =X =62 cm
sin =

H
L

g=

a
sin

Time=

1/24

981.6

1.6985 s

7/120
3/40
4/120
13/120

cm/s2
965.4 cm/s2
1061.33 cm/s2
997.09 cm/s2
948.00 cm/s2

1.4477 s
1.275 s
1.1362
1.0719

2X
a

average g=990.63

cm
s2

error =0.94

Like in the first part of the experiment, we also encountered some technical
difficulties such as the chip that is placed in the cart often bumps the gate when
released which interrupts the reading and leads to failure of the reading of the
device.
And as for the last part of the experiment which is to determine acceleration
due to gravity using picket fence and smart timer. For this experiment, the only
materials needed are the picket fence, a smart timer and a photo gate. Wherein, the
picket fence is to be dropped as it goes through the photo gate to be measured by
the smart timer. And for security to avoid the damage of the picket fence, one of
the member of our group will catch the picket fence at the bottom. The purpose of
this part of the experiment is to find the acceleration of the falling object. And
because it is a free falling object, what we are trying to measure is the gravity.
There will be 5 trials for this. And after recording the data, we will compute for the
average acceleration and its percent error to the gravity.
And the result of the experiment is expressed in the table 3 below:

Table 3: Determination of Acceleration Due to Gravity Using Picket

Fence and Smart Timer
Trial
1
2
3
4
5
AVE

968.8 cm/s2
983.1 cm/s2
975.4 cm/s2
987.6 cm/s2
976.5 cm/s2
978.28 cm/s2

During this last part of the experiment, we had a hard time in trying to record the
acceleration of the free falling object because most of the time, there was no result
shown because it was probably fast for the machine or we didnt just press the
button on time. Another mistake that we did is that the chip did not go through the
gate because the chip was thin but very wide. Most of the times, the fence would
only bump the gate. Although it was a difficult experiment all in all, we still
managed to finish it and we really learned a lot.

CONCLUSION:
After finishing the said experiment we were able to learn and prove plenty of
things such as the relationship between the acceleration of the cart and the angle of

inclination of the cart, and the relationship between the displacement and time of
the cart. Most of our claims were based from the graphs provided in the analysis.
As stated before, this experiment is composed of three parts. For the first
experiment, that is to run a test n a moving cart in a rack that is not inclined. We
notice that as we increase the distance between the two photogates, the result in the
smart timer also increases, therefore we concluded that time and position are
directly proportional to each other but as for the average speed, there is no relative
increase or decrease on it with respect to the increasing distance of the two
photogates.
For the second experiment, in which only one photogate and an inclined rack
is used, we tested it to examine whether the acceleration due to gravity is constant
or not. Although the results from our experiment reveal that it is not constant
throughout the pathway down the track. The reason we concluded for this claim is
because there could be no straight line that could be drawn in order to pass through
all the data points or within the error bars. Another thing we found out is that the
acceleration increases as the angle of inclination increases.
And for the last part of the experiment which is to determine the acceleration
of a free falling object with respect to gravity. Our conclusion for this part of the
experiment is the average acceleration of a free falling object to gravity is always
near 980 m/s^2 if and only if there is no outside force present.