Hit the Floor
Newton’s Laws - Mass, Acceleration, and Force
Problem: How can I determine the force with which an object will hit a surface?
Hypothesis: Write a hypothesis concerning which type of ball will have the greatest
dropping force: a ping pong ball, a tennis ball, a golf ball or a bouncy ball.
d vf - vI
Information: v = t , a = t , f = ma , acceleration due to gravity = 9.8 m/s2
Materials: balance, meter stick, stop watch, masking tape, ping pong ball, tennis ball,
golf ball, bouncy ball.
Procedure:
1. Find the mass of each ball (in Kilograms) using the balance. Record in data table
2. Find the tape on the wall that indicates a height of 2 meters. Drop ball #1 from the tape to the floor and time how long it takes. Record
3. Determine the velocity using the correct formula. Calculate acceleration (use the same time that you wrote down to calculate velocity). Calculate force using the correct formula. Record all calculations on the data table
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 twice more for ball #1 (3 trials for each ball).
5. Follow steps 2 through 4 for ball #2, #3, and #4.
6. Using the same mass for each ball that you found in step 1, use the acceleration due to gravity to calculate the Force.
Hit the Floor Analysis:
– Using a bar graph show the force of impact for each ball using gravity and each trial (4 bars/ball). Make sure to label axis and bars.
Questions:
Answer the questions on a separate sheet of notebook paper. (these are the same questions as on the data sheet – do not answer them twice)
- Did you experience any problems with this lab? If so, explain.
- What was the difference in the force when you calculated acceleration from your data and when you used the acceleration due to gravity?
- How can you explain this difference?
- What could you do to make your data more accurate?