Free Fall Methods Investigation
Free Fall Methods Investigation
Aim
I am going to use three different methods in which I will find the value of gravity (g). Then I am going to compare all three methods to see which is the best. The three experiments will be
- Pendulum
- Spring
- Electronic timer
Background Research
Free fall
Is motion with no acceleration other than that provided by gravity, and no deceleration other than that caused by the aerodynamic drag of the object (hence the term also applies for moving up). In skydiving, the term is also applied to the period of the jump before the parachute is opened, and in colloquial usage, falling through an atmosphere is normally considered to be free fall.
Example of free fall:-
An object dropped in a vacuum tube
Things that are not at fee fall:-
Jumping from an airplane: there is a resistance force provided by the atmosphere.
Simple Harmonic
Oscillations are plentiful in our natural world - we see them everywhere
When you throw a stone into a puddle ripples to spread out to the edges.
When you pluck a guitar string, the string vibrates back and forth.
When you touch a tree branch it oscillates.
When you rock a small boat, it wobbles to and fro in the water before coming to rest again.
When you stretch out a spring and release it, the spring goes back and forth between being compressed and being stretched out.
Oscillation is the natural world’s way of returning a system to its equilibrium position - the stable position of the system where the net force acting on it is zero.
If you throw a system off-balance, it doesn’t simply return to the way it was; it oscillates back and forth about the equilibrium position.
The system oscillates as a way of giving off energy. A system that is oscillating has been given extra energy by some outside force - it has more energy than a system in its equilibrium position.
The movement of an oscillating body is called 'harmonic motion'. SHM and Circular motion
Aim
I am going to use three different methods in which I will find the value of gravity (g). Then I am going to compare all three methods to see which is the best. The three experiments will be
- Pendulum
- Spring
- Electronic timer
Background Research
Free fall
Is motion with no acceleration other than that provided by gravity, and no deceleration other than that caused by the aerodynamic drag of the object (hence the term also applies for moving up). In skydiving, the term is also applied to the period of the jump before the parachute is opened, and in colloquial usage, falling through an atmosphere is normally considered to be free fall.
Example of free fall:-
An object dropped in a vacuum tube
Things that are not at fee fall:-
Jumping from an airplane: there is a resistance force provided by the atmosphere.
Simple Harmonic
Oscillations are plentiful in our natural world - we see them everywhere
When you throw a stone into a puddle ripples to spread out to the edges.
When you pluck a guitar string, the string vibrates back and forth.
When you touch a tree branch it oscillates.
When you rock a small boat, it wobbles to and fro in the water before coming to rest again.
When you stretch out a spring and release it, the spring goes back and forth between being compressed and being stretched out.
Oscillation is the natural world’s way of returning a system to its equilibrium position - the stable position of the system where the net force acting on it is zero.
If you throw a system off-balance, it doesn’t simply return to the way it was; it oscillates back and forth about the equilibrium position.
The system oscillates as a way of giving off energy. A system that is oscillating has been given extra energy by some outside force - it has more energy than a system in its equilibrium position.
The movement of an oscillating body is called 'harmonic motion'. SHM and Circular motion