Impulse Lab Write-Up

Hannah Hamilton

The purpose of this lab is to nd which shoes exert the most force. We
determined the impulse exerted when doing a standing jumping and calculated velocity
at take-off and how high the participant jumped. Some of the industries who would be
interested in knowing this information would be shoe and ooring companies. These
companies would be interested in this information because they would learn how
different shoes react and wear. The ooring companies could be interested to see the
different forces with different shoes. Through our ndings we believe that force exerted
on the plate is not dependent on the shoes, but dependent on the weight of the person.
The hypothesis for our lab was as follows; If the shoe has more mass then it will
exert more force on the plate because it adds to the mass of the person. We designed
this hypotheses to work with our experiment because we used three different shoes with
very different masses. The shoes we used were a brown pair of knee high UGGs, a pair
of blue nike frees, and a pair of black rubber ip-ops. We also did our rst trial
experiment with a purple pair of Sperrys. With the varying of shoes we had different
masses to compare.
During this experiment we recored many different variables. We collected two
trials of impulse, the average force and the time. We recorded these variables because
they were the ones in the rst lab we did and we found them to be some of the most
important factors. When recording data there are variables in place, on paper attached.
In our lab were are dependent and independent variables. A dependent variable
is a variable that depends on other factors while a independent variable is a variable
that stands alone and isn't changed by the other variables. The independent variables in
this lab were types of shoes and if they were either walking or jumping. The
dependent variables was the amount of time they were on the force plate. A
confounding is a variable that is not a focus of the study, that is correlated with the
independent variable.The confounding variable would be the weight of the person, it
does not matter the weight of the person, but the weight of the person effects the
independent variable. The control variable is something that is constant and unchanged
in an experiment. The control variables in this experiment were; the same person read
the data, the same person jumped on the plate, and we used the same lab station
and force plate to calculate the impulse. The confounding variable for the control was
the same person hit the start button every time. Even though it does not relate to the
project it correlates with the controls variables.
We started the lab by zeroing the force plate. We did this by clicking the zero on
the system Logger Pro. Next your partner clicks the start button in the top left corner.
Then someone starts to walk toward the force plate and steps on to it with one foot and
keeps walking. Try to walk as natural as possible when stepping on the force plate.
Once that is completed you press the Autoscale button. Next sketch the graph labeling
all axis ; force with newtons and time in seconds. Then with complete sentences
explain what the graph indicates. Part two of the lab starts by zeroing the force plate.
Have the same person who stepped on the plate before, step again. Record the force
and nd the mass of the person. You nd the mass by using the formula mass times
gravitational acceleration, in this case you will use 9.8 meters per second squared. With
the person still on the force plate, zero the force plate. Start on the force plate in a
crouched position with their hands on their hips. Do not lower the body any further and
have your partner press the start button in the top left corner. Jump straight up in the air,
be sure not to move your arms. Find the impulse of the jump by using two different
methods. The rst method you look at the force vs. time graph and highlight the portion
of the graph in which you were extending your legs and pushing down against the force
plate. This is the rst incline you see in the graph. Click and drag the mouse across this
area. Click on the integral button to nd the area under the curve. Record the impulse
and close the integral box. The second method to nd the impulse is to again, look at
the force vs time graph. Use the same highlighted section as before and click on the
statics button. Record the average force given. Next using the days in the columns on
the left to nd the elapsed time over which you applied the impulse. To nd this subtract
the initial time by the nal time to get the answer. Once you found the time and the force
you are to nd the impulse. Impulse is equal to force times time. Once you complete
these steps for the rst pair of shoes, continue for the other 2. The materials you will
need for this project are as followed: logger pro system and a computer that is
compatible with it, a force plate, 3 pairs of shoes.
When my group followed this very detailed procedure and came up with our own
results. When the person stepped on the force plate and nd the mass of the of them,
our mass was 64.8 kilograms and the weight was 635 newtons. With the rst method
with Sperrys the impulse was 113.8 Newton Seconds. The second shoe, tennis shoe,
was 120.5 Newton Seconds. The third shoe, boot, was 108.1 Newton Seconds. Finally,
the last shoe, ip ops, was 112.5 Newton Seconds. The second method with Sperrys
the average force was 209.9 Newtons. The second shoe, tennis shoe, was 116.4
Newtons. The third shoe, boot, was 102.8 Newtons. Finally, the last shoe, ip ops, was
108.56 Newtons. The time for all the shoes differed with Sperrys the time was 0.52
seconds. The second shoe, tennis shoe, was 0.64 seconds. The third shoe, boot, was
0.32 seconds. Finally, the last shoe, ip ops, was 0.40 seconds. As we can see in this
data there are different timing jumps, this means the jumps are not totally accurate. This
could be human error. The Sperrys jump was 0.52 seconds while the ip ops were
0.40 seconds. The tennis shoes have the lowest force is for the tennis shoes (182
Newtons) while a boot has the highest force (321.3 Newtons). This could mean that it is
easier to jump in the athletic shoes than on the boots. This data was supported by our
hypothesis. If the shoe has more mass then it will exert more force on the plate because
it adds to the mass of the person. There is a higher force with the heavy boots and a
smaller force with the light tennis shoes. This could also bring you to the conclusion that
shoes affect the mass which affects the force.
Through this process the lab had many strengths and weaknesses. For example,
a strength was, if you follow the procedure exactly then it easy to complete the lab. Also
logging the data in your personal way was helpful to keep your thoughts inline. The lab
also had some weaknesses, learning a new software was tricky and the human error
was hard to avoid. Some of the data we collected should not have been collected. To
support our hypothesis we did not need to collect the time or the impulse for each pair
of shoes. While some groups may believe our hypotheses is incorrect our data shows
that our hypothesis in this case is.
In conclusion the purpose of this lab is to nd out what shoes exert the most
force. We determined the impulse you exert when doing a standing jumping and
calculated velocity at take-off and how high you jumped. We discussed who would be
interested in this information, the experiment steps and materials, the different variables
of the procedure, and the strengths and weaknesses. We believe that force exerted on
the plate is not dependent on the shoes but dependent on the weight.