In class today we did the Velocity Investigation Lab. What we were trying to figure out was what is the velocity when ping pong ball and a golf ball get dropped at different heights? Our hypothesis was the velocity of each ball will be greater the higher it is dropped because the distance goes greater in the formula so the end result will be higher. The other hypothesis was that the golf ball will have greater velocity because it has more mass. To calculate the velocity in this experiment you use the formula d=vxt. Where d is distance, v is velocity, t is time. So when you plug it in, distance=velocityxtime.
Results:
Bold=Vernier Equipment Used
Force of GB= 447.5N
Force of PPB=24.5N
| Golf or Ping Pong Ball | Distance (m) | Time (s) | Velocity (m/s^2) |
| PP | 1m | .4s | 2.5m/s^2 |
| PP | 2m | .8s | 2.5m/s^2 |
| PP | 3m | .9s | 3.3m/s^2 |
| G | 1m | .53s | 1.9m/s^2 |
| G | 2m | .7s | 2.9m/s^2 |
| G | 3m | .73s | 4.1m/s^2 |
| PP | 1m | .5s | 13.5m/s^2 |
| PP | 2m | .6s | 12.2m/s^2 |
| PP | 3m | .7s | .8m/s^2 |
| G | 1m | .5s | -9.2m/s^2 |
| G | 2m | .4s | -6.6m/s^2 |
| G | 3m | .3s | -6.2m/s^2 |
This is the Vernier software graph of the Golf Ball. We had just dropped it from the ceiling which was not quite 3m so that is why we had not gotten the actual 3m but we just used the highest data for that. This test was not as a straight drop as the Ping Pong Ball.
This is the Vernier software graph of the Ping Pong Ball. We had just dropped it from the ceiling which was not quite 3m so that is why we had not gotten the actual 3m but we just used the highest data for that.
This is when we were dropping the Ping Pong Ball from the ceiling with our own testing.
This is the Ping Pong Ball test at 1m and when we did our own test without the Vernier software.
Conclusion:
Our hypothesis was correct and incorrect in some parts. The velocity of each ball was greater the higher it was dropped, but only for the results without the Vernier software this was probably because the Vernier software was not cooperating well with our experiment. The other hypothesis was also somewhat correct so that the golf ball will have greater velocity because it has more mass, but this was only true in our results not the Vernier software because again had complications with the technology. The comparison of the relationship of the two types of tests was that I believe that our test was more accurate because the Vernier was acting up and the numbers made way more sense then negative numbers for the velocity. Also, on the Vernier motion sensor the distance was being confused when the ceiling was even lower then the 3m that was needed to calculate all the velocity’s correctly. I believe that without the Vernier software our lab was a success, and I had learned a lot about the velocity formula and how to use it in experiments. For this experiment, it useful to know what velocity and distance actually means. Velocity is the speed plus direction, the rate at which an object changes its position. Distance is a scalar quantity that refers to how much ground an object has covered.
