Experiment 3: Kinematics of Translation Laboratory Report

Armina Bago, Dianne Balani, Nikki Barcinas, Ina Bunda 1-SLP College of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Santo Tomas Espaa, Manila Philippines

Abstract The experiment is all about Kinematics. This experiment included the drawing of displacement versus time graphs and velocity versus time graphs for uniform motion and uniformly accelerated motion and determining the values of velocity and acceleration from such graphs as well as the determination of ones reaction time. The first activity was about Uniform motion by measuring the distance traveled by a battery operated car every three seconds interval for thirty seconds. The displacements for every interval increased while the average velocities were not constant. The second experiment was to get the reaction time by holding a meter stick vertically at the zero mark and a group mate will catch the stick when it falls. The reaction times of the students only had a slight difference.

mechanics that describes the motion of bodies (objects) and systems (groups of objects) without consideration of the forces that cause the motion. The simplest application of kinematics is for particle motion, translational or rotational.

The term kinematics is less common today than in the past, but still has a role in physics. Linear or translational kinematics is the description of the motion in space of a point along a line, also known as a trajectory or path. This path can be either straight or curved.

1. Introduction Kinematics, from Greek, kinein, meaning to move, is the branch of classical

This experiments objectives are to draw the displacement versus time graphs and velocity versus time graphs for uniform motion and uniformly accelerated motion, determine velocity and acceleration from such graphs, determine the acceleration due to gravity and to determine ones reaction time.

2. Theory The displacement is the change in the position of the object whose magnitude is the length of the line segment joining the initial and final position of the object. It is when an object moves from one point to another along its path of travel. Thus, the displacement, (X, is computed from the difference of the final position, XF, and the initial position, XO. Average speed is the distance traveled divided by the time required to cover the distance. Average speed uses the SI unit meters per second (m/s). Average velocity is simply the displacement ((X) divided by the elapsed time ((T). Acceleration, on the other hand, is the change in velocity ((V) over time ((T).

which was divided into 3 activities; one about uniform motion, second for reaction time and third for graph matching. The first activity required the use of the battery operated toy car, meter stick, and a timer. The toy car was set to run a path and the researchers then measured the distance traveled by the car every 3 second interval for 3 seconds. The data gathered were then recorded and the average velocities for each data were computed.

4. Results and Discussion

Table 1. Time, Displacement And Average Velocity Measurements

In the absence of air resistance, it is found that all bodies at the same location above the Earth fall vertically with the same acceleration. If the distance of the fall is small compared to the radius of the Earth, then the acceleration remains essentially constant throughout the descent. This idealized motion is called free-fall and the acceleration of a freely falling body is called the acceleration due to gravity.

Time (s) 3s 6s 9s 12 s 15 s 18 s 21 s 24 s 27 s 30 s

Displacement (cm) 241 cm 436 cm 800 cm 982 cm 1195 cm 1400 cm 1620 cm 1753 cm 1900 cm 2140 cm

Ave. Velocity (cm/s) 80 cm/s 65 cm/s 121 cm/s 61 cm/s 71 cm/s 68 cm/s 73 cm/s 44 cm/s 49 cm/s 80 cm/s

Figure 1. Modern Galileo Experiment

3. Methodology

With a battery operated toy car, meter stick, timer, a computer and a cardboard, a group of researchers conducted the third experiment (Kinematics of Translation)

motion detector. The lines were not that close because the group members had a difficult time following the actual graph. Table 2 shows the reaction times gathered by the students. The data gathered varied per student. 5. Conclusion
Table 2. Reaction Times When Catching a Meter Stick

Student 1 (Ina) 2 (Nikki) 3 (Dianne) 4 (Armina)

Reaction Time (s) 0.16 s 0.17 s 0.22 s 0.18 s

Reaction Time While Distracted (s) 0.31 s 0.21 s 0.31 s 0.22 s

Figure 2. Displacement vs. Time Graph

Displacement vs. Time Graph

Displacement (cm) 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 Time (s)

The experiments performed were about uniform motion and reaction time. For uniform motion, the activity started by using a battery operated car every three seconds interval for thirty seconds to get the displacement and the average velocity of the car. A graph was plotted and a straight line was formed indicating a more or less constant velocity. The second activity was about to measure the reaction time of the group. This was done by one group mate holding a meter stick vertically (at zero) while another group mate places the thumb and index finger at the 50-cm mark without touching the stick. The group mate catches the stick when it falls and uses a formula to get the reaction time. The reaction times of the students varied. The objectives were met.

6. Applications 1. Devise a way to determine the height of a building using only a stopwatch.

Table 1 shows the displacement of the toy car every 3 seconds along with its average velocity. Figure 2 is the graph plotting these gathered measurements. From this graph, it can be said that the velocity was more or less constant because of the straight line. Figure 1 is the result of the Modern Galileo Experiment using the

2. If you drop a feather and a hammer from the same height here on earth, which will reach the ground first? Will you get the same result if you perform the experiment on the surface of the moon? y Considering that the feather and hammer were dropped from a vacuum on Earth, the two objects will reach the ground at the same time because of the acceleration due to gravity on Earth acting on them is constant. If the experiment was performed on the moon, the result will be the same. The only difference is that the acceleration due to gravity of the moon is a smaller value.

7. References 1. Appel, Kenneth et.al., Physics with Computers, 3rd ed., Oregon: Vernier Software and Technology, 2003. 2. Edmonds, Dean S. Jr, Cioffaris Experiments in College Physics, Massachusettes: D.C. Health and Company, 1988. Activites 1 and 4 were prepared by Angelina A. Silverio.