measurement of velocity and accerelation

Question 1

describe how the student measured the velocities of the trolley.

Answer 1

ticker tape used a device that creates a mark on the tape 50 times every second. the distance between 10 dots on the tape gives the distance travelled in 0.2 seconds. this can be used to calculate velocity, or can be repeated at the beginning and end of the tape to initial and final velocity when looking for acceleration

Question 2

what other measurement did the students take?

Answer 2

to calculate acceleration, the distance between the two data loggers was measured using a ruler

Question 3

what is plotted on the x and y axes for the graph for this experiment?

Answer 3

a distance-time graph shows speed

a velocity-time graph shows acceleration

Question 4

how would you use this graph to calculate the acceleration?

Answer 4

the slope of the graph gives speed (distance/time) and acceleration (velocity-time)

Question 5

give a precaution the student took to ensure an accurate results.

Answer 5

make sure the linear air track is working properly and free from dust
make sure the track is raised slightly to overcome forces due to gravity.
check to ensure constant speed at different points along the track.