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Name_______________________________
Lab 1, Gravitational Force and Mass Date__________________Period________
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DiscussionQuestionsWriteyouranswerstothefollowingquestionsonaseparatesheetofpaper.
Describeandanalyzeyourgraph.Writeaspecificmathematicalstatementwhichdescribestherelationship
betweenmassandgravitationalforce.Whatistheslopeofyourgraph?Whatisthephysicalsignificanceof
thisslope?
Readthearticleonthebottomofthissheetandthenanswerthefollowingquestions.
Explainwhatwouldhappentoyourdataifyouweretotakethesameequipmenttothemoonandperform
theexperiment?
Manyunitconversiontablescontainthefollowingconversion:1kg=2.2pounds.Explainwhatiswrong
withthisequation.Writeastatementthatincludestheterms1kgand2.2poundsthatiscorrect.
ItiscommonplacetofindstatementsonfoodcanssuchasNetWeight:16oz.(454g)Whydomost
peoplefindthisacceptable?Whydophysicstypesobjecttosuchstatements?
Carefullyexaminethespringscalewhichiscalibratedingrams.Puta500gobjectonthisscale.Isthe
readingcorrect?Whatwouldthescalereadifyouweretoputthesame500gobjectonitonthemoon?Is
thereanythingwrongwiththisscale?Explain.
Whenyougotothedoctorsofficeyousteponabalance,whichintheU.S.istypicallycalibratedin
pounds.Isthisacorrectunitforsuchabalance?Whatwouldhappentothereadingonthisdeviceifyou
weretostandonitwhileonthemoon?Isthiswhatthescaleshouldread?
wouldbeonlyonesixthwhatitwasonEarth,becausethestrengthofthemoon'sgravitationalfieldisonly
onesixththatofEarth.Itshouldnotbesurprising,then,thataverymassiveobject,ifplacedinaplacewith
nogravitationalfield,wouldbeweightless.Forexample,asaspaceshipmovesawayfromtheEarth,the
gravitationalforcewithwhichitisattractedtotheEarththereforeitsweightdecreases.So,iftheship
weretomoveintointerstellarspace,farawayfromtheEarthoranothermassivebody,itcouldcomeclose
tohavingaweightofzero.
(AdaptedfromanarticlefromScienceDigest,February,1993)