Inclined Air Track - Timed Intervals



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 Code Number :   1C20.30

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Reprinted by permission of Dick Berg, University of Maryland, for use on this website.

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Condition :   Good  
Principle :   Acceleration Due to Gravity   
Area of Study :  Mechanics  
Equipment :   Air track, 1-3" blocks, laptop computer, computer interface, photo gates, protractor, meter stick.

 

Procedure :   Put the block under one end of the air track and measure the angle if desired.  Set the photo gates and the desired position and if needed carefully measure the distance between the gates.  Release the car with one of the 10cm flags on it and measure the time through the two gates.
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   References

D.D. Venable, A.P. Batra, and T. Hubsch,  "Modifying the Inclined Plane Experiment,"  TPT, Vol. 39, # 4, p. 215, (April 2001).

David Wheeler, "Significant Errors," TPT, Vol. 39, # 6, p.  324, (September 2001).

David Wheeler,  "An Error-Free Method,"  TPT, Vol. 38, # 1, p. 4, (Jan. 2000).

Robert G. Mentzer, "Measuring the Acceleration Due to Gravity: An experiment Galileo Could Have Run", TPT, Vol. 22, # 9, Dec. 1984, p. 580 - 581.

Robert Kern Curtis, "More on Measuring g", TPT, Vol. 17, # 1, Jan. 1979, p. 10.

Bruce Bernero, "Another Experiment to Measure g", TPT, Vol. 16, # 8, Nov. 1978, p. 558.

Paul D. Sherman, "Galileo and the Inclined Plane Controversy", TPT, Vol. 12, # 6, Sept.  1974, p. 343.

 

Robert Ehrlich, "Rolling Balls Down an Inclined Ruler,"  Turning the World Inside Out, p. 6 - 8.

Robert P. Crease, "The Alpha Experiment: Galileo and the Inclined Plane", The Prism & The Pendulum, Ch. 3, p. 42 - 52.



Mail Questions and Comments to:  Dale Stille