Begin forwarded message:
From: Chi Whitley <chiwhitley@austin.rr.com>
Date: September 25, 2011 11:20:51 PM CDT
To: chiwhitley@austin.rr.com
Monday, September 26, 2011
Fwd:
Begin forwarded message:
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Galileo's Lab
Galileo's Law of Fall Lab:
Background:
Galileo Galilei was a G. He was born in Pisa, Italy on February 15, 1564, and died on January 8,1642 at age 78. He was a physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher, and above all a beast. He is one of the foremost scholars and founding fathers in all of these academic categories.
Random facts about Galileo:
Definition of linear motion: "Linear motion is motion along a straight line, and can therefore be described mathematically using only one spatial dimensions. The linear motion can be of two types, Uniform Linear motion, with constant velocity or zero acceleration, Non Uniform Linear motion, with variable velocity or non-zero acceleration. The motion of a particle (a point-like object) along a line can be described by its position x, which varies with t (time). Linear motion is also called as rectilinear motion." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_motion)
History of linear motion: The concept of linear motion was not started with Newton, but he is the father of modern day mathematics of linear motion. Based off his first law: the velocity of a body remains constant unless the body is acted upon by an external force.
Acceleration: "In physics, acceleration is the rate of change of velocity over time. In one dimension, acceleration is the rate at which something speeds up or slows down. However, since velocity is a vector, acceleration describes the rate of change of both the magnitude and the direction of velocity"-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acceleration
History of acceleration: Newton was also a founder and forefather in describing acceleration. In his second law of motion: the acceleration 'a' of a body is parallel and directly proportional to the net net force 'f' and inversely proportional to the mass, here Newton establishes the cause of acceleration.
Problem being discussed:
Galileo believed that the distance an object woulf fall in a given time was proportional to the square of the time, (x~t²). Today we are to discuss this belief and recreate one of Galileo's experiments.
Group members: Chi Whitley, Lindsey Collins, and Churchill
Location: McCallum High School, Mr. Wright's Physics class, Room 156.
Equipment: 90cm aluminum ramp, metal ball, yard stick, pen and paper, and stopwatch.
Hypothesis: I believe that a object falling in motion will fall at a constant acceleration until something impedes it's movement (ground).
Procedure:
Background:
Galileo Galilei was a G. He was born in Pisa, Italy on February 15, 1564, and died on January 8,1642 at age 78. He was a physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher, and above all a beast. He is one of the foremost scholars and founding fathers in all of these academic categories.
Random facts about Galileo:
- Galileo disproved Aristotle's idea that the speed of falling objects was based on weight and size. He did so by dropping a number of balls differing in size and weight off the leaning tower of Pisa.
- Discovered four of Jupiter's moons
- Invented kinematics
- Built a telescope with 30x the magnification of any telescope before his.
- Went blind later in age.
- Helped develop the universal clock.
- Created the military compass and also the thermometer.
Definition of linear motion: "Linear motion is motion along a straight line, and can therefore be described mathematically using only one spatial dimensions. The linear motion can be of two types, Uniform Linear motion, with constant velocity or zero acceleration, Non Uniform Linear motion, with variable velocity or non-zero acceleration. The motion of a particle (a point-like object) along a line can be described by its position x, which varies with t (time). Linear motion is also called as rectilinear motion." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_motion)
History of linear motion: The concept of linear motion was not started with Newton, but he is the father of modern day mathematics of linear motion. Based off his first law: the velocity of a body remains constant unless the body is acted upon by an external force.
Acceleration: "In physics, acceleration is the rate of change of velocity over time. In one dimension, acceleration is the rate at which something speeds up or slows down. However, since velocity is a vector, acceleration describes the rate of change of both the magnitude and the direction of velocity"-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acceleration
History of acceleration: Newton was also a founder and forefather in describing acceleration. In his second law of motion: the acceleration 'a' of a body is parallel and directly proportional to the net net force 'f' and inversely proportional to the mass, here Newton establishes the cause of acceleration.
Problem being discussed:
Galileo believed that the distance an object woulf fall in a given time was proportional to the square of the time, (x~t²). Today we are to discuss this belief and recreate one of Galileo's experiments.
Group members: Chi Whitley, Lindsey Collins, and Churchill
Location: McCallum High School, Mr. Wright's Physics class, Room 156.
Equipment: 90cm aluminum ramp, metal ball, yard stick, pen and paper, and stopwatch.
Hypothesis: I believe that a object falling in motion will fall at a constant acceleration until something impedes it's movement (ground).
Procedure:
- Set up the aluminum ramp at a chosen angle, preferably one that keeps the metal ball rolling at a speed that's not too fast for a human hand to start and stop a stopwatch.
- Measure the distance of the metal ramp. Then measure at least 5 different locations on the metal ramp; the distances should be the he same between each location.
- Next it's time to start making data. Take the metal ball and drop it from the first location, at the exact time the marble is dropped the stop watch should be started. Stop the stopwatch as soon as the metal ball runs off the ramp and hits the ground, (there will be human error).
- Repeat this step a minimum of 3x, in doing so one is trying to reduce human error, record all the times and then average them together to receive the definite time it takes the ball from that certain location to run down the ramp.
- Then go the next location on the ramp and repeat procedures 3 and 4.
- Finally after you have collected all of your data organize it in a program such as excel, and graph the data.
Data: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The time and distance data averaged for each distance measurement point:
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Conclusion: The purpose of this lab was to test Galileo's declaration that the distance an object would fall in a given time was proportional to the square of the time, (x~t²). The data shown supports Galileo's theory. The graph and data show that there is constant acceleration. The curve is to show the parabola shape it's making. The trend line is very close to being perfect, but the equation is oddly enough completely off. The data is contradicting itself (if possible), but the graph itself looks good. But the mistakes come from human error. To make this experiment eliminate human error one could use a motion detector, or use a slow-speed camera to capture when exactly the ball is released or falls off the ramp. Abstract: The statement by Galileo that: the distance an object woulf fall in a given time was proportional to the square of the time, (x~t²). The statement by research, shown in the data and graph holds true. http://www.universetoday.com/48756/galileo-facts/ http://inventors.about.com/od/gstartinventors/a/Galileo_Galilei.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_motion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acceleration http://www.enotes.com/topics/galileo-galilei | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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