Marcus Tecarro Mrs.

Myers Physics

Dropping Lab Intro: Gravity is a universal constant. It is a very important force to study in the field of physics, and in our daily lives. Gravity is present at all times during our lives, but seldom do we stop and wonder exactly how or why it works. To give a paradoxical example of how gravity is so confusing, consider the moon and static electricity. Gravity is what keeps the moon in orbit around the Earth. Likewise, the moon also controls the oceans tides on earth. However, if one takes a piece of paper and sticks it to a balloon with static electricity, that supposedly weaker force counteracts the entirety of gravity that keeps us on the planet and the moon in orbit. Purpose: To discover the acceleration due to gravity on a dropped object Materials: 1-meter long tape for measurement, video camera, stopwatch, volleyball Procedure: 1) The camera was used to record a video of a dropped object from a set height 3 times 2) Video was analyzed to determine the initial height of the dropped object, and time it took to fall all the way to the ground. Results were recorded 3 times 3) acceleration due to gravity was calculated by using the formula of change in distance over time squared.

Data: Trial Distance (m) 1 2 3 3 3 3 .84 .85 .88 Time (s) Acceleration (m/s^2) 6.02 6.04 6.07 3.78 3.76 3.73 38.6% 38.4% 38% .99 1 1 Dr=16.5% Conclusion: The lab did help determine the acceleration due to gravity, but there were Ea Er Da

several flaws that could have been improved upon. For example, the object dropped could have been varied from a volleyball, to a tennis ball, or any other kind of object to allow for different surface areas. Secondly, different heights should have been used to show variance and to further prove gravitational constant. Lastly, the angle of the camera should have been aimed straight at the dropped object instead of at an angle to make measuring the distance slightly more accurate. Galileo once proved gravitational pull was constant by dropping items off the leaning tower of Pisa. He proved that gravity made all things fall at the same rate. Another pioneer of gravitational science was Isaac Newton, who came up with the laws of motion and inertia. According to howstuffworks.com, Newton stated It basically set forth the idea that gravity was a predictable force that acts on all matter in the universe, and is a function of both mass and distance. The theory states that each particle of matter attracts every other particle (for instance, the particles of "Earth" and the particles of "you") with a force that is directly proportional to the

product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. However, this theory has its flaws, shown by the static electricity example shown above. The last major gravitational scientist was Albert Einstein, who called gravity a distortion in the shape of space-time. This theory would become the basis for his theory of relativity. In conclusion, Gravity is one of the most important forces in physics, and one of the most mysterious.