Acceleration Along An Incline Plane (1/6/2017) (1 Lab Period)
Learning Goals
-Observer the magnitude and direction of the acceleration on an inclined plane.
-Build scatter plots using PASCO Capstone software
-linearize data to reveal mathematical relationships between variables
-Extract information via fit parameters from experimental data
Provided Equipment
Support Rod and PASCO pivot clamp
2.2 meter PASCO Dynamics Track
Angle Indicator
PASCO SMART Cart and 250-gram mass bar
Interface/Capstone Software
Dynamics Track End Stop
Purpose
In this experiment, you will investigate a) the magnitude and direction of the acceleration along
an inclined plane and b) how the acceleration of a cart rolling down an inclined track depends
on the angle of the incline. From your data, you will calculate the acceleration of an object
free-falling in the Earth’s gravity field.
Theory
A cart of mass m on an incline rolls up and down the incline as is pulled by gravity. The force of
gravity (mg) is down (towards the Earth) as shown in the above figure. The component (part) of
that is parallel to the inclined plane is a fraction of (mg), the gravitational force, mg sin θ.
