Force and Energy

Our second experiment using the NXT system was to demonstrate the relationship between acceleration, mass, and force using a pulley system and weights. The goal of the experiment was to prove Newton’s second law of motion. Newton’s second law states:

Acceleration is produced when a force acts on a mass. The greater the mass (of the object being accelerated) the greater the amount of force needed (to accelerate the object).

Meaning: FORCE = MASS x ACCELERATION.

From Newton’s second Law we know that a heavier mass requires more force (energy) to be moved.

So, in this experiment we would test this law in two ways using a pulley and weight system. First, we tested the pulley system using one constant power level (60%) while changing the amount of mass on the pulley. Next, we kept mass constant while changing the power levels.

The expected and proven relationships are:

Decrease in upward Acceleration with stable power and increasing mass

• Demonstrated by the equation (F=m*a)

Increasing upward Acceleration with stable mass and increasing power

• Demonstrated again by the equation (F=m*a)

Here is an excel spreadsheet of our results:

Next, we used our measurements to create tables and graphs to visualize the results that we found.