Required Practical: Investigating Force & Acceleration Flashcards

All 5 cards in this deck

In the acceleration practical, how is friction on the runway compensated for?

Raise one end of the runway (e.g. with a wooden block) until the trolley moves at a constant speed after a small push.

Name one variable that must be controlled when investigating how force affects acceleration in the trolley practical.

The combined mass of the trolley and mass hanger.

How can the effect of random errors be reduced in the force and acceleration practical?

Repeat the measurements, ignore any anomalies and calculate a mean.

In the required practical, what relationship do the results show between the resultant force on the trolley and its acceleration (constant mass)?

They are directly proportional — the graph is a straight line through the origin.

In required practical 7, what apparatus is used to measure the acceleration of the trolley?

A light gate (with a card on the trolley) connected to a data logger, which records the velocities and calculates the acceleration.