Week 3 – Experiment 2 – Newton’s Second Law (Lab)
Labs for College Physics: Mechanics Worksheet Experiment 3.2-1
Newton’s Second Law and Newton’s Cradle
As you work through the steps in the lab procedure, record your experimental values and the results
on this worksheet. Use the exact values you record for your data to make later calculations.
Part I: Newton’s Second Law, Step 2
Complete Table 1. Record all data to three decimal places (e.g., 4.000 or 6.325 or 0.000). Do not
include units in your answer.
Table 1: (M = 100 g;m = 1:0 g)
Cart Mass (M) Mass (m) Distance (s) Time (t)
(g) (g) (m) (s)
100 1.0 0.000 0.000
100 1.0 0.100
100 1.0 0.200
100 1.0 0.300
100 1.0 0.400
100 1.0 0.500
100 1.0 0.600
100 1.0 0.700
100 1.0 0.800
100 1.0 0.900
100 1.0 1.000
Labs for College Physics: Mechanics Worksheet Experiment 3.2-2
If the data points of distance and time were connected smoothly on a graph, the curve would be a
.
The line or curve formed is because the object is .
Labs for College Physics: Mechanics Worksheet Experiment 3.2-3
Part I: Newton’s Second Law, Step 3
Complete Table 2. Record all data to three decimal places (e.g., 4.000 or 6.325 or 0.000). Do not
include units in your answer.
Table 2: (M = 250 g;m = 1:0 g)
Cart Mass (M) Mass (m) Distance (s) Time (t)
(g) (g) (m) (s)
250 1.0 0.000 0.000
250 1.0 0.100
250 1.0 0.200
250 1.0 0.300
250 1.0 0.400
250 1.0 0.500
250 1.0 0.600
250 1.0 0.700
250 1.0 0.800
250 1.0 0.900
250 1.0 1.000
Labs for College Physics: Mechanics Worksheet Experiment 3.2-4
If the data points of distance and time were connected smoothly on a graph the curve would be a
.
The line or curve formed is because the object is .
Labs for College Physics: Mechanics Worksheet Experiment 3.2-5
Part I: Newton’s Second Law, Step 4
Complete Table 3. Record all data to three decimal places (e.g., 4.000 or 6.325 or 0.000). Do not
include units in your answer.
Table 3: (M = 100 g;m = 4:0 g)
Cart Mass (M) Mass (m) Distance (s) Time (t)
(g) (g) (m) (s)
100 4.0 0.000 0.000
100 4.0 0.100
100 4.0 0.200
100 4.0 0.300
100 4.0 0.400
100 4.0 0.500
100 4.0 0.600
100 4.0 0.700
100 4.0 0.800
100 4.0 0.900
100 4.0 1.000
Labs for College Physics: Mechanics Worksheet Experiment 3.2-6
If the data points of distance and time were connected smoothly on a graph the curve would be a
.
The line or curve formed is because the object is .
Part I: Newton’s Second Law, Step 5
If you increase the mass of the cart, while leaving the hanging mass unchanged, the
acceleration of the system will .
If you increase the mass of the hanging weight, while leaving the mass of the cart
unchanged, the acceleration of the system will .
Labs for College Physics: Mechanics Worksheet Experiment 3.2-7
Part II: Newton’s Cradle
Observe one ball swinging. Next, observe and describe what happens when two balls, three balls,
and nally four balls are swinging, and record your observations.
Table 4
Observation
one ball
two balls
three balls
four balls
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