In Class Pulley Experiment
Friday February 7th was an interesting class to say the least. I found myself lost and did my best to avoid frustration. Nothing seemed to work, to add to the pressure a majority of my peers including my partner were confused. However, I managed to complete the task and learned how to explain my thoughts to my partner. Between the both of us and assistance from the professor we pulled together and finished our objective.
During our experiment we used Newton’s 2nd law, which states:
Force=Mass * Acceleration
Initially we began by maintaining the robots force fixed at 50 (Newton’s). We repeated this experiment three times and increased the mass each time.
1.) TRIAL #1
| Force | = | Mass | * | Acceleration |
| 50 Newton’s | = | .05Kg | * | 1000 m/s^2 |
| 50 Newton’s | = | .07Kg | * | 714.29 m/s^2 |
| 50 Newton’s | = | .1Kg | * | 500 m/s^2 |
If you take a look at the table below you will notice that by increasing the mass the acceleration is decreasing. There is a direct correlation between mass and acceleration.
2.) TRIAL #2
| Force | Mass | Acceleration |
| 70 Newton’s | .1kg | 700 m/s^2 |
| 100 Newton’s | .1kg | 1000 m/s^2 |
| 90 Newton’s | .1kg | 900 m/s^2 |
For our second trial we maintained the mass at the same weight .1kg. We repeated the experiment three times; each time we changed the force. As you can see in the first column the force increased from 70 to 100 and then decreased to 90 Newton’s. The change in force caused the acceleration to change each time. Trial #2 proved that the greater the force the greater the acceleration (assuming Mass is constant).
3.) MGH calculations
| Joules | = | Mass | * | Gravity | * | Height |
| .16 | = | .05kg | * | 9.8m/s^2 | * | .317meters |
| .22 | = | .07 | * | 9.8 | * | .317 |
| .31 | = | .1 | * | 9.8 | * | .317 |
| .31 | = | .1 | * | 9.8 | * | .317 |
| .31 | = | .1 | * | 9,8 | * | .317 |
| .31 | = | .1 | * | 9.8 | * | .317 |
Our third goal was to calculate MGH (mass*gravity*height). We first began by ensuring all the units were compatible. After measuring the height of the pulley in inches, we converted the height of 12.5 inches into .317 meters. We then proceeded to calculate our joules or potential energy.
What the MGH calculation proved was that as mass increased Joules increased. We then continued to plot our information on excel.
Graph 1
| Mass | Acceleration |
| 0.05 |
1000 |
| 0.07 |
714 |
| 0.1 |
500 |
Graph 1 displays the direct correlation between an increase in mass and decrease in acceleration. Displaying that the heavier the mass the lower the acceleration.
Graph 2
| Power | Acceleration |
| 70 |
700 |
| 100 |
1000 |
| 90 |
900 |
This graph depicts the correlation between power and acceleration. The greater the power the faster the acceleration.