Experimenters: Georgie, Josephine, Anabelle and Dolphy
Abstract The purpose of this lab is to prove the theory of Aristotle's, that an object's acceleration depends on the mass of the object, is wrong. This will be done by conducting an experiment where two sets of objects with different masses will be dropped from the same height and releasing them at exactly the same time. The time it takes for each object to touch the ground will be recorded each trial and then used to calculate the velocity and acceleration of each object. Then an analysis of the data will take place to see if the mass of an object effects the rate at which it falls.
IntroductionIn 350 BC, a Greek philosopher named Aristotle developed the theory that heavier objects fall faster than lighter objects. Due to Aristotle's well known previous work and also his authority, at that time his theory was accepted as the correct explanation for many years. He believed that if two objects were dropped with different masses that the heavier of the two will always drop at a faster rate. However in the early 1600's, an Italian scientist, Galileo, did actual experiments to prove this theory to be incorrect. Galileo proved through experiments that the rate at which objects fall is not due to their mass, but to air resistance and gravity.
The purpose of this lab is to show that Galileo was right by proving Aristotle's theory wrong. To do this, the same experiment will be done several times each time changing variables. Two objects of the same size and volume but different masses will be dropped from a height, recording how fast it takes each object to reach the ground and if they fall at the same rate.
HypothesisIf two objects of similar size and shape but different masses are dropped from a certain height, then they will fall to the ground at the same time due to a same amount of air resistance applied to both objects.
MATERIALS |
Procedure Using the scale, weigh the mass of the basketball, volleyball, whiffle ball and field hockey ball and record the results. Go to the gym and have one person climb to the top of the volleyball referee stand, measure the height from the top to the ground and record it. Have the person hold the basketball and the volleyball at the same height on the stand and drop them at the same time, record a video and the time it takes for each object to hit the ground from the moment it leaves the hands. Record results and then do the same procedure twice more with the same objects. Now do the same procedure three more times with a whiffle ball and field hockey ball (don't forget to record the time for each trial) and record the results. Clean up the materials and analyze the results.
FormulasData
|
Timing
Velocity and Acceleration
Videos
Analysis
Based on the data collected from this experiment, the mass of the objects that were dropped did not effect the rate at which they fell, as they fell at the same speed as a similar sized object with a different mass. The hypothesis was supported by this experiment as the objects with the same size fell at the same rate.
Discussion
After all the trials of this experiment were done, recorded and calculated, the final analysis was that the mass of objects does not effect the rate at which they fall when they are dropped. In this experiment objects of similar sizes but different masses were dropped from the same height and at the same time. The results showed that the objects hit the ground at the same time, meaning that the mass didn't effect the result. The velocity final and the accleration of each object was the same as the object it was being compared to. For example the final velocity of the basketball and the volleyball were the same: 8.5m/s downswards and the acceleration for both the objects was: 18m/s^2 downwards. Therefore, this experiment and the hypothesis of this lab confirmed that Aristotle's theory , that the heavier the object is, the faster it will fall, is incorrect.
In this experiment, balls of the same or similar sizes were used to show Galileo's theory that it is not the mass that effects the rate at which they fall but it is the air resistance. When an object is large in size and has a large amount of air resistance it will fall slower. Even if two objects are the same weight the one that is larger in size will fall slower due to the amount of air resistance that is being applied. The objects fell at the same rate in this experiment because they have the same or similar amount of air resistance being applied.
Potential experimental error may have occurred in this lab as the time values were found from a person with a stopwatch. This method of measuring may not have been the most accurate way to calculate this value and may have altered the results of the lab slightly. However even if the objects didn't reach the ground at precisely the same second, one can still see that an objects with totally different masses are falling at relatively the same rate and therefor mass cannot be an effecting factor.
To further the comprehension of this topic, a similar experiment could be done by changing the variables. Perhaps changing the objects with different shaped objects could have an effect on the outcome. Also maybe my extending the displacement of the ball being dropped could have an effect on the results.