An Experiment to Investigate How Angle of Release of a Marble Affects Acceleration

Physics 10
Andrew Lin 10E
Problem:
How does angle of release of a marble (50, 55, 60, 65, 70) affect the acceleration
inside of a 1.2m tube?
Background Information:
Acceleration is a type of vector quantity which is a quantity that is described and identified
in both magnitude and direction. It is the rate of change of velocity of an object.
Assuming that friction is absent, there are two or more forces acting on an object on a
inclined plane. The force of gravity is resolved into two different forces, one parallel and
another perpendicular to the plane. The perpendicular force will be balanced by a normal
force going the opposite direction. However, the parallel force has no other force where it
will be balanced by. The object will then accelerate down the slope due to the unbalanced
force. As stated by Newtons second law, acceleration is the net result of all forces that are
acting on an object. Therefore, in this context, the parallel force is the net result. The
acceleration of an object on an inclined plane of the parallel force is m*g*sin/m therefore
giving, a=g*sin (Physics Classroom).
Hypothesis:
If the angle of release of an object increases from 50 to 70, then the acceleration will be
increased inside of a 1.2m tube. This is because the greater the slope, the closer the line
becomes vertical, the faster the acceleration because the closer the slope is to 90 the
closer to the normal force of gravity it will be.
Variables:
Independent Variable

Dependent Variable

Controlled Variables

Angle of release of an object (50,

55, 60, 65, 70)

Acceleration:
Va=d/t
Vf=Va*2 (Only when vi is 0)
a=change in v/t

Mass of object: The mass of the

object will be controlled by using
the same ball for consecutive
trials

a=sin()*9.3
Material of object: The material of
the object will be controlled by
using the same ball for
consecutive trials
Height of Tube: The height of the
tube will be controlled by using
the same tube for consecutive
trials

Independent Variable

Dependent Variable

Controlled Variables
Material of Tube: The material of
the tube will be controlled by
using the same tube for
consecutive trials

Materials:
1x 1g of blu-tack
1x 120cm plastic tube
1x stopwatch
1x 4.4g marble
1x 88.5cm tall table
Method:
Part A: Finding the angles
1) Calculate tan(50)=88.5/x, finding x will give the distance for the adjacent angle of the
inclined plane.
2) Repeat for the rest of the 5 increments by subbing the appropriate angle into the 50
value in the equation above.
Part B: Conducting Experiment
1) After finding the appropriate distance using trigonometry, first take a ruler and stick it
onto the ground to measure the appropriate distance of the adjacent angle.
2) Place the tube onto the the table and measure the distance from the tube to the table
by using the appropriate values measured for the specific angle.
3) Hold the ball onto the top of the tube while having a stopwatch in the other hand
4) Drop the ball into the tube while simultaneously begging the stopwatch
5) Immediately stop the stopwatch once the ball reaches the ground
6) Repeat step 2 for 3 more trials
Data Collection:
Raw data:
Table 1: Time in ms for the ball to hit the ground at angles of 50, 55, 60, 65, 70

Angle of Tube ()

Trial 1

Trial 2

Trial 3

Time (ms)

Time (ms)

Time (ms)

50

0.57

0.58

0.57

55

0.55

0.55

0.56

60

0.53

0.53

0.53

65

0.52

0.51

0.52

70

0.50

0.49

0.48

Qualitative data during the experiment:

Trial 1

Trial 2

Trial 3

Observations

Observations

Observations

50 - ball rolled down at a

straight path

- ball rolled down

- ball rolled down at a

straight path

55 - ball rolled down at a

straight path

- ball rolled down

60 - ball rolled down at a

straight path

- ball rolled down at a

straight path

- ball rolled down at a

straight path

65 - ball rolled down at a

straight path

- ball rolled down

- ball rolled down at a

straight path

70 - ball rolled down at a

straight path

- ball rolled down at a

straight path

Angle of Tube ()

slightly to the left

(longer path)

- ball rolled down at a

straight path

slightly to the left

(longer path)

slightly to the right

(longer path)

- ball rolled down at a

straight path

Data processing:
Table 2: Acceleration of ball for each increment of all trials

Angle of Tube ()

Trial 1

Trial 2

Trial 3

Acceleration (m/s)

Acceleration (m/s)

Acceleration (m/s)

50

7.39

7.13

7.39

55

7.93

7.93

7.65

60

8.54

8.54

8.54

65

8.88

8.54

8.88

70

9.60

9.23

9.60

Table 3: Average Acceleration for each increment

Average Acceleration
Angle of Tube ()

Acceleration (m/s)
50

7.30

55

7.84

60

8.54

65

8.77

70

9.48

Figure 1: Average Acceleration of Marble Rolling Down a 1.2m tube

Accelra'on*of*Marble*(m/s)*

Angle*of*Inclined*Plane*()*Vs*
Accelera'on*of*Marble*(m/s)*
10"
y"="0.1058x"+"2.038"
R"="0.98344

9.5"
9"
8.5"
8"
7.5"
7"
50"

55"

60"

65"

70"

Angle*of*Tube*()*

Error Bars
- In figure 1, the vertical error bars represent the absolute uncertainty of the acceleration
between the 3 trials
Data analysis
As seen in figure 1, angle of tube vs the average acceleration of the marble, there is a
positive linear correlation between the angle of the tube and the acceleration of the
marble. This means that the data suggests that as angle increases, the acceleration of the
marble will increase as well.
The equation of the best fit line, y=0.1058x+2.038 shows that the data has a positive
correlation. The slope in the equation shows that there is around a 10% increase in the
acceleration of the marble as the angle increases by 1 degrees. The 2.038 value shows
the y intercept of the equation representing that when the angle of the tube is 0, the
acceleration of the marble will be 2.038. However, this is unrealistic in the context of this
experiment as if the angle of the tube is 0, the marble would have no acceleration due to
newtons first law where an object will not move in a straight line unless its state is changed
by the act of other forces.
In terms of the r value, the correlation coefficient, it represents how the data fits the curve
which in this case, was the best fit line. The r value ranges from 0-1 where the closer to 1
the stronger the correlation and vice versa. In figure 1, the r value is 0.98344. This means
that the data represents a very strong relationship to the best fit line.
As seen in table 2 of data processing, the data gathered in experiment was reliable. By
looking the difference in acceleration, it shows that the data ranged from a 0% to 3.9%
difference between trials. This means that the data is very consistent which could lead to a
stronger and better claim. The range can also be seen in the error bars in figure 1 as well.

In terms of uncertainties, the data gathered from the experiment did not show any major
outliers which caused for the data to be unreliable. This can also be seen in figure 1 as the
data point as very close to the best fit line.
Conclusion
In conclusion, in this lab, we investigated the relationship between angle of an inclined
slope with acceleration of an object. According to the data collected, as the angle
increases, the acceleration will increase as well. This is because according to the equation
of an inclined slope, g*sin the higher the angle, the closer the sin theta value is to 1, the
faster the acceleration due to the fact that the closer the theta value is to 90, the higher
the value will be, but it will never pass 1. This is because sin theta can never pass one.
However, when the value hits 1, the force of gravity will be multiplied by one, therefore,
going back to the normal force of gravity (Collection of Solved Problems in Physics).

Evaluation
The hypothesis in the lab can be accepted as valid as it corresponds to the data as well as
scientific claims. As seen in figure 1, the data shows that there is a positive correlation
between the angle on an inclined slope and the acceleration of an object. The r value of
the graph also shows a strong correlation therefore allowing for the data to be more valid.
Lastly, the hypothesis of the lab can also be proved by using scientific claims. In the
equation for the acceleration on an inclined slope, the higher the theta value, the higher
the acceleration. However, the hypothesis has a limitation to it. It does not specify a strong
correlation between the data.

Works Cited
"Collection of Solved Problems in Physics." Collection of Solved Problems in Physics. N.p., n.d.
Web. 12 May 2015. <http://physicstasks.eu/uloha.php?uloha=509>.
"Incline Plane." Incline Plane. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2015. <http://faculty.wwu.edu/vawter/
PhysicsNet/Topics/Dynamics/InclinePlanePhys.html>.
"Inclined Planes." Inclined Planes. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2015. <h"p://www.physicsclassroom.com/
class/vectors/Lesson-3/Inclined-Planes>.