Experiment #2: Forces

1. Objective The objective of the second experiment of the PH1004 laboratory course is broken down into two parts. In part A, the aim is to determine the acceleration due to gravity of a glider, which runs along a straight line on an air track. A weight will be connected to the glider by a string draped over a pulley to create the necessary acceleration. To understand why objects accelerate, force and mass must be defined. …

…the acceleration due to gravity is through the method followed in Part A, because it demonstrates within range that, regardless of the mass of an object, the value of g will remain the same. It is the pure pull of the Earth on an object, as opposed to the method in Part B, which is a more indirect way of measuring g by calculating the horizontal component of acceleration due to gravity down an incline.