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Lab #6.3a Mechanics: Chapter 6  Putting the Cart Before the Horse

Purpose
In this activity, you will observe the motion of a variety of objects under a variety of conditions. You will interpret your observations to learn the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration.

Discussion
Some of the most fundamental laws of motion eluded the best minds in science for centuries. One reason for this is that when objects are pushed or pulled, there are usually several forces acting at once. To understand the nature of force and motion, it is necessary to observe the effect of a single, unbalanced force acting on an object. In this activity, you will do just that. You will also vary the amount of force acting on the object and you will vary the mass of the object being acted upon. Careful observations will lead you to an understanding of the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration.

Required Equipment

Car and Ramp Lab, Hooked Mass Set, Pulley String, Box of Hex Nuts, Go Motion Sensor, Computer, Paper Clip, Books.

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Student Worksheet   Teacher Notes

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The computer required for this lab is a PC with Windows 98, 2000, Me, or Xp which has a Pentium processor or the equivalent and a USB port. A Macintosh computer will also work if the operating system is Mac OS X (10.2 or newer). Instead of a computer this lab will also work with a Vernier LabPro, CBL 2, or TI graphing calculators.

The "paper clips" required for this lab are any plain office paper clips you may already have or are readily available at your office or school supply store. Each lab would require one. The "books" required for this lab are used to level the ramp. Any books or other material may be used to accomplish this purpose.