General Physics Lab Handbook by D.D.Venable, A.P.Batra, T.

H
ubsch, D.Walton & M.Kamal

Rectilinear Motion and Inclined Plane

1. Theory
A type of motion with which most of us are well acquainted is free fall; that is, simply falling
under the influence of Earths gravity. From Newtons laws of motion (and neglecting
air resistance), free falling is recognized as a form of uniformly accelerated motion. For
experiments with falling bodies, everyday experience indicates that common stopwatches
and usual human reflexes would not provide very good precision. To improve on this, we
note that under the influence of the same gravity, bodies move rather more slowly if they
slide down an inclined plane. Upon taking the angle of the incline into account, a careful
study of such sliding bodies shall provide the required facts to determine the nature of
freely falling bodies.
Now, it should be obvious that sliding down a plane will also involve friction, which
is an unwelcome complication since there is no friction in free fall 1) . Fortunately, friction
can be minimized by the use of an air-track on which bodies slide floating on a thin layer
of air and without contact with the track itself. Alternatively, special tracks and carts
with negligible friction are now also available.
2. Experiment
Object: The main object of this experiment is to study uniformly accelerated motion and
determine experimentally the gravitational acceleration constant, g.
Apparatus: Air-track and blower or PASCO tracks, air-track or PASCO cars, level, timers
(stopwatches or digital timers), balance scales, PASCO Science Workshop Interface,
Two Photogates and a Macintosh Computer.
Caution: Handle the cars and the air-track (PASCO track) carefully and avoid scratching
or otherwise marring their surface, so as to ensure minimal friction!
Procedure:
1. Position the air-track in the level (horizontal) position. In lieu of a level, this can be
verified by making sure that a car on the air-track (with the air flowing) is stationary.
If necessary, fine adjustments can be made with the three leveling screws, two on one
side and one on the other. Make sure that the cars indeed move unobstructed, floating
on a thin layer of air. Put two photogates at a distance of 60 cm apart and plug them
into the digital input of the PASCO Science workshop interface.
2. Measure the distance (length-wise) between the leveling screws. Raise slightly the end
of the air-track with one screw by placing one or a few wooden shims under it, and
record the thickness of the shims in a spreadsheet provided by the instructor.
3. Place a car at the first photogate and use the photogate timer from the Science
Workshop program to measure the time that the car takes to travel a predetermined
length (between the two photogates) along the air-track (the longer the better). The
cars must start at rest. Repeat with several cars for the same elevation.
1)

Air resistance is present in both free fall and sliding, but will be neglected here.

Rectilinear Motion and Inclined Plane:

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General Physics Lab Handbook by D.D.Venable, A.P.Batra, T.H

ubsch, D.Walton & M.Kamal

4. Repeat steps 2.3. for several different (but relatively small) elevations.
5. For each elevation and each car, the acceleration may be calculated from the formula
s = 12 at2 , where s is the distance traveled, t the time elapsed during travel and a the
acceleration down the track.
6. Writing for the angle of the incline (between the track and the horizontal), the
acceleration along the track is a = g sin . Having determined a experimentally from
the measurements and the relation s = 12 at2 , determine g.
7. Compare your experimental result with the known value g = 9.81 m/s2 and discuss
the experimental (and statistical) error.

mg sin = ma

mg cos

mg

Fig. 1: An exaggerated sketch of a car on the inclined air-track. The component

of the weight vector (labeled mg) which acts along the air-track rail produces
the acceleration along the rail. Friction is considered negligible.
Exercise: Justify the conclusion (stated in Fig. 1) that the acceleration along the air-track
rail is g sin ; verify this by considering the two limiting cases when = 0 and when
= 90 .

Rectilinear Motion and Inclined Plane:

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