[COMPANY NAME]

[Company address]

TITLE: INCLINED PLANE

[Document subtitle]
Objective:
In this experiment we have studied the effect of angle of inclination of the inclined
plane on the acceleration of the cart when it is released from the high end to lower end over a
specified length

Materials Required:
1- Inclined plane
2- Cart
3- Meter stick
4- Motion detector
5- Pc with logger pro software

Related Theory
Inclined plane:
Inclined plane is simply a smooth surface tilted at some angle called angle of
inclination so that one end of surface at higher position. It is considered as one of the classical
simple machine among the six machines.
We have used basic kinematics equations of motions to study the motion of cart down the
inclined plane when it released from the top. The equation are
v =vo+ at (1)

1
x=xo+ vot+ at 2 (2)
2

Where object starts motion at time t=0 at position x o with velocity.

Experimental Setup:
The experimental setup to perform this experiment is shown in the figure below
 Figure. 1

Figure.2 Actual diagram of the experimental setup

Data Collection steps:

For this experiment I have taken readings for three different heights and angle of
inclination as follows
1- For first measurement we set up inclined plane at approximately 20 cm
2- With ruler we mark two points exactly 1 m apart and recorded their heights
3- From this information we calculated the angle of inclination
4- I setup the motion detector and open the logger pro software where a window was
displayed showing time, position and acceleration columns. On the other side of screen
two graphs for time vs position and velocity were shown
5- I right clicked on each graph selected axes options and selected auto scale.
6- Then cart was released from the top end
7- As soon as cart was released collect data button was pushed and cart was catched before
reaching the ground
8- Then I generated graphs on the logger pro at first graphs were erratic so we repeat the
measurement until smooth graphs were achieved
9- Then I exported the data into my flash drive
 10- For 2nd measurement height was adjusted at to 15 cm above the surface of table and two
points were selected 1 m apart their heights h1 and h2 were measured using ruler and
angle of inclination was calculated and same steps from 4 to 9 were repeated again
11- For 3rd measurement height was adjusted to 10 cm and two point 1m apart were selected
and their heights h1 and h2 were measured using ruler. Then angle of inclination was
calculated and same steps from 4 to 9 were repeated again to get dat
12- At the end I have three sets of position and velocity graphs and heights which are
tabulated below

Table 1:
Measurement Distance L Height (h1) Height (h2)
No (cm) (cm) (cm) h1h 2
( )
L
=tan 1

1 50 10.5 7 4.00412
2 50 13 8 5.710593
3 50 14.5 9 6.27729

Results and
discussion
1-Free body
diagram:

Figure .3 FBD of experimental setup

Analysis:
In the FBD of inclined plane weight is the only active force which is resolved into
components. We have not included frictional force because its an air slide case where friction
becomes nominal which can be neglected

2-Graph for position vs time:

 Position at various angles vs time

Position1 Position2 Position3

Analysis:
The graph is drawn for three different angles of inclination i.e = 4.002124,5.71
and 6.27. From the graph its clear that distance increases more quickly with the passage of time
its due to the reason velocity increases with the time .Its also clear that for greater angle of
inclination distance increases more quickly because the force increses with the angle and so
distance and velocity.

3-Graph:
 Veocity at various angles vs time

Velocity1 Velocity2 Velocity2

Analysis:
The above graph is the velocity against the time .The graph is plotted for three
different angles of inclination i.e
= 4.002124, 5.71 and 6.27.

The graph shows that velocity increase with the time for the same angle of inclination its
according to the equation

v =vo+ at (1)

Also we noted that velocity is higher for higher angle of inclination the reason is that for higher
angle the force acting on the cart is higher the force responsible for downward motion is given
by
F=mgsin (2)
Where m, g are mass and acceleration due to gravity which are constant and is angle of
inclination. So as angle of inclination increases force also increases as a result cart moves faster
down the inclined plane

Graph:

Linear fit of velocity

f(x) = 0.81x - 0.28

R = 0.93

f(x) = 0.28x
0.29x - 0.13
0.14
R = 0.77
0.67

Velocity1 Linear (Velocity1) Velocity2

Linear (Velocity2) Velocity2 Linear (Velocity2)
Analysis:
The above graph is the velocity against the time .The graph is plotted for three different
angles of inclination i.e
= 4.002124, 5.71 and 6.27.

The linear curve fit for each angle is given in the graph comparing it with the equation of
kinematics
v =vo+ at (1)

We get that slope of the equation is the acceleration and y-intercept is the initial velocity

For Measurement 1:
Theoretical Acceleration:
ath =gsin
= 9.8 sin4.00214=.706 m/s2

Experimental Acceleration:
aex
= 0.2857 m/s2

Error:
a
% error ( tha ex )/a th100

% error= 59.6 %

For measurement 2:
Theoretical Acceleration:
ath =gsin
= 9.8 sin5.72=.947m/s2

Experimental Acceleration:
aex
=.2857 m/s2
Error:
a
% error ( tha ex )/a th100

% error= 59 %
Theoretical Acceleration:
ath =gsin
= 9.8 sin4.00214=.706 m/s2

Experimental Acceleration:
aex
= 0.285 m/s2

Error:
a
% error ( tha ex )/a th100

% error= 59 %

For measurement 3:
Theoretical Acceleration:
ath =gsin
= 9.8 sin6.27=1.0715m/s2

Experimental Acceleration:
aex
= .811m/s2

Error:
a
% error ( tha ex )/a th100

% error= 24 %
Graph for = 4.002124 degree:

Act &theor position at angle 4.00212 vs time

Xo+Vo*t+ath1*t^2 Act Position 1

Graph for = 5.71 degree:

Act & theor position at angle 5.71 vs time

Xo+Vo*t+ath2*t^2 Act Position2

Graph for = 6.27 degree:

 Act & theor position at angle 6.7 vs time

Act Position 3 Xo+Vo*t+ath3*t^2

Analysis:
From the graph we see that the actual position curve and theoretical position curves do
not exactly match. There is strong deviation between the two its due to errors

Sources of error:
1- Due to friction effects
2- Due to limited precision of measuring stick
3- Due to limited precision of motion detector
4- Reaction movement due to manual release of the cart

Comments:
In this experiment we studies inclined plane with air track. We learnt how position
velocity and acceleration of the cart varies down the track. We also studied forces acting on the
plane and force responsible for the downward motion of the cart.