This experiment will use photogates to find the speed and acceleration of a car rolling down a ramp. Photogates use a single beam of ultraviolet light which goes from one arm of the gate into a receiver in the other arm. A data logger connected to the photogate will record the time that the beam is blocked by an object passing through the gate. Photogates allow us to accurately measure times that would be too short to measure with a stopwatch.
Required Equipment
Acknowledgements: Thank you to Cary Busby for her work in developing this lab. Cary is a former high school physics teacher and has presented physics related workshops at NSTA conferences and State science conferences around the country.
