SEPT – JAN 2018

ITEM M
OBJ. (1)
METHOD. (2)
DATA (2)
ANALYSIS (2)
DISCUSS. (2)
CONCLUS. (1)
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA
CAWANGAN PERAK KAMPUS TOTAL (10)

TAPAH

PHY 110
MECHANICS I
LABORATORY REPORT

: MEASURING GRAVITATIONAL ACCELERATION

TITLE ……………………………………………………

EXP. NO. 3
: ………

GROUP 7
: A4AS1201…….

NO NAME STUDENT ID
1. NUR SHAQIRAH BINTI MOHD AFIZUDIN 2023629068

2. NUR AIIN BINTI AZHAR 2023625518

3. KHADIJAH IZZATI BINTI MALIKI 2023635658

4. AZEEM RUSYDAN BIN ROSLAN 2023624556

5. NUR HASYA BINTI HANAFI 2023623702

DATE OF
SUBMISSION:
SEPT – JAN 2018

LECTURER : SITI SUMAIYAH BINTI SHEIKH ABDUL AZIZ

SEPT – JAN 2018

OBJECTIVES

1. To investigate the functional relationship between height of fall and falling time.

2. To determine the acceleration due to gravity, g by studying the motion of a freely

falling body.

APPARATUS

1. Falling sphere apparatus consisting of release unit

2. Impact switch
3. Digital counter
4. 4 decades
5. Support base
6. Right-angle clamp
7. Plate holder
8. Meter scale
9. Support rod
10. Connecting cord
11. Ball bearing

PROCEDURE

1. The apparatus was set up as in Figure 3.1. An electricity conducting sphere is gripped
in the release mechanism which closes the start circuit.

2. The pan is adjusted, using the adjusting screw under the arrest switch, in such a way
that a downward motion of a few tenths of a millimeter closes the stop circuit. The
pan was raised by hand after each single measurement (initial position).

3. For the effective determination of the height of fall using the marking on the release
mechanism, the radius of the sphere is taken into account (diameter ¾ inch, approx.
19 mm). Spherical aerodynamic drag is neglected.
SEPT – JAN 2018

RESULTS

2 2
Height of fall, h (m) Time, t (s) t (s )
t1 t2 t3 t average

0.05 0.0899 0.8940 0.0888 0.0894 0.0079

0.10 0.1323 0.1341 0.1344 0.1336 0.0178

0.15 0.1675 0.1682 0.1691 0.1683 0.0283

0.20 0.1954 0.1953 0.1961 0.1956 0.0384

0.25 0.2181 0.2199 0.2177 0.2186 0.0478

0.30 0.2399 0.2406 0.2416 0.2407 0.0579

0.35 0.2634 0.2621 0.2629 0.2628 0.0691

0.40 0.2796 0.2798 0.2806 0.2800 0.0784

0.45 0.2953 0.2965 0.2965 0.2961 0.0877

0.50 0.3108 0.3116 0.3105 0.3110 0.0967

ANALYSIS

1. From the data, plot the graph for:

(a) Height of fall is a function of falling time.
(b) Height of fall as a function of the square falling time, and

2. Using the height of fall as a function of the square falling time graph, determine the
gradient (slope) of the graph and calculate the value g.

0.40−0.05
m=
0.0784−0.0019

= 4.96
SEPT – JAN 2018

g = 2 x 4.96

= 9.93 m/ s2

3. Calculate the value of uncertainties of g.

0.01 m △ g 0.001
= + 2( )
0.275 m 9.81 0.2196

△ g = 0.27 m/ s2

4. Calculate the percent difference between the value of g calculated in part 1 above and
the standard value of g =9.81 m/s 2. What is the percentage error in this experimental
value?

9.93−9.81
x 100 % = 1.2 %
9.81

5. Are there any experimental errors? Discuss.

Yes. It is because all experiment data is imperfect so random errors are

uncontrollable. The precision and accuracy of the data values was slightly off since
the measuring equipment in this experiment wasn’t correctly used thus causing
uncertainty. Therefore, all data must go through careful calculation to reduce
uncertainty.
SEPT – JAN 2018

DISCUSSION

From the experiment, we were able to know that height of fall is directly proportional to the
square of falling time. This means that if the falling time doubles, the height of the fall will
increase by a factor of 4. Likewise, if the falling time is halved, the height of fall will
1 2
decrease to one-fourth of its original value. Using the h = gt equation, we could rearrange
2
it to t = √(2 h /g) to indicate the actual falling time based on the height of the fall by
substituting different values for the height of fall. It’s important to take note that these
relationships hold when idealized situations of free fall without air resistance. In reality,
factors such as air resistance and object’s shape may influence the fall time and height which
happened during conducting the experiment. Besides that, parallax errors also occur during
this experiment. For instance, our eyes are not perpendicular to the measurement scale which
could affect the reading. Therefore, the value of falling time is not the same from the data we
obtained compared when using the equation. The value of g that we calculated also is not the
same as the standard one due to the 2.1% of percent error.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, measuring gravitational acceleration could develop practical understanding of

gravity and motion. By conducting this experiment, we can conclude that height of fall is
1 2
directly proportional to the square of falling time based on the h = gt equation and the
2
graph that has been plotted. To calculate the value of g, we need to find the gradient, m for
the height of fall as a function of the square falling time graph. Then, we just substitute the
value into g = 2 x m which we got g = 9.93 m/ s2. 2.1% of errors are causing the uncertainty
of the gravity value. The lack of precision in the value of g is due to some errors that occurred
during this experiment.
SEPT – JAN 2018

REFERENCES

1. Christopher Boyd, 11 January 2017, Lab 2: Acceleration Due to Gravity. Derived form:
https://silo.tips/download/lab-2-acceleration-due-to-gravity#

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyEXatb017w&ab_channel=dayday