PHYSICS LAB TWO DIMENSIONAL MOTION

Physics Lab Two Dimensional Motion

Kevin Jang
5th Period Physics
January 19th, 2015

PHYSICS LAB TWO DIMENSIONAL MOTION

2

Introduction:
If a marble is given a horizontal slope before dropping into a vertical drop, then the
vertical motion of the marble will approach the ground at the same speed as if there was no
horizontal slope present at all. During this lab, multiple trials will be conducted to find out if
horizontal motion will have any effect to the vertical motion of the marble. To further understand
this, it must be known that horizontal and vertical motions are two different motions. Horizontal
and vertical motion are not dependent from one another, we can determine that the object is in, in
fact, projectile motion. Projectile motion is a type of motion that can be best understood as a
curved path. The reason why projectile motion is associated with a curved path is because that
gravity plays a large role in projectile motion. When an object is launched, gravity pushes down
on the object as soon as it leaves a surface because gravity is constantly pushing down on Earth.
Mathematically, gravity could be understood as a = -9.81 because gravity is constantly pushing
down. Formulas like xf = at2 + (vi) t + xi take into account the effect gravity (a) has on the final
position of an object in free-fall. Other formulas like vf = vi + at and vf 2 = vi2 + 2a (xf-xi) take into
account gravity because it is constantly pushing down.

Materials:

A stairwell
3x4 piece of wood (91 centimeters long)
Hot Wheels tracks that reach to at least 91 centimeters long or longer
One marble
Tape
Scissors
String
A stopwatch, or, a phone with a stopwatch app

PHYSICS LAB TWO DIMENSIONAL MOTION

3

Four Physics: Principles and Problems textbooks

Flat area
Meter Stick

Methods:
1. Using the string, measured the distance from the top of stairwell to the
bottom

2. Cut the string when it had hit the bottom

3. Using the ruler, measured the distance between the top of the stairwell to the
bottom
4. Dropped the marble from the top of the stairwell
5. Used the stopwatch to time the amount of time when the marble dropped
from the top of the stairwell to when it had touched the bottom
6. Repeated steps 4 and 5 to have 8 trials
7. Taped the Hot Wheels tracks to the wood
8. Placed the then taped Hot Wheels tracks near the edge of the stairwell so
that it had lined up with the edge of the stairwell
9. Placed only two of the physics textbooks underneath the tracks
10. Placed the marble right at the top where the tracks had met with the wood
11. With a light amount of force, the marble was gently pushed from the top of
the tracks to the edge of the tracks

12. Used the stopwatch to time when it left the bottom edge of the tracks to the
time when it had hit the floor

13. Repeated steps 10 to 12 to have 8 trials

14. Added two textbooks to have a total of four textbooks
15. With the four textbooks, the marble once again was placed at the top of the
tracks where the top edge of the wood had met with the track

16. Again using a small amount of force, the marble was pushed down the tracks
17. Used the stopwatch to determine the time the marble took to reach the
bottom floor from the bottom edge of the track

18. Repeated steps 15 through 17 to achieve 8 trials

19. Moved to a flat area where the tracks could lay flat horizontally
20. Placed two textbooks on the floor
21. Placed the tracks on top of the textbooks
22. Placed the marble where the tracks had met with the top edge of the wood

PHYSICS LAB TWO DIMENSIONAL MOTION

4

23. With a minuscule amount of force, the marble was pushed from the top of the
tracks to the bottom edge of the tracks
24. Timed the distance when it had left the top edge of the wood and reached the
bottom edge of the wood
25. Repeated steps 22 through 24 to achieve eight trials
26. Placed two more books under the already existing two books to have a total
of four books
27. Placed the marble where the tracks had met with the top edge of the wood
28. Again using a light amount of force, the marble was pushed down the tracks
29. A stopwatch was used to measure the time from when the marble had left
the top of the tracks to the bottom
30. Repeated steps 27 through 29

Results and Calculations:

Vertical Motion

Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
Trial 4
Trial 5
Trial 6
Trial 7
Trial 8
Average Time
Theoretical Time
Percent Error
s = Seconds

No Textbooks
.64 s
.80 s
.58 s
.50 s
.50s
.43 s
.59 s
.56 s
.58 s
.81 s
+/- 9.40%

Two Textbooks
Four Textbooks
.89 s
.55 s
.61 s
.59 s
.61 s
.57 s
.89 s
.68 s
.79 s
.58 s
.65 s
.56 s
.64 s
.59 s
.67 s
.60 s
.72 s
.59 s
.81 s
.81 s
+/- 7.89%
+/- 8.16%
*Averages are rounded to the nearest hundredth

Average Time with no textbooks:

.64 s + .80 s + .58 s + .50 s + .50 s + .43 s + .59 s + .56 s = 4.8 s

PHYSICS LAB TWO DIMENSIONAL MOTION

5

4.8 s / 8 = .58 s
Theoretical no textbook time:
**a = gravity = =9.81 m/s2
xf = at2 + (vi)t + xi
3.23m = (-9.81)t2 + 0(t) + 0
3.23m = -4.905m/s2(t)2
`

3.23m/-4.905m/s2 = -4.905 m/s2/-4.905 m/s2

-.66 s = t2
.81 s = t

Percent Error of no textbooks:

(theoretical actual / theoretical) * 100
(.81 s - .58 s / .81 s)*100
9.40%
Horizontal Motion

Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
Trial 4
Trial 5
Trial 6
Trial 7

Two Textbooks
1.49 s
1.51 s
1.19 s
1.75 s
1.49 s
1.55 s
1.70 s

Four Textbooks
.98 s
.80 s
.80 s
.86 s
.83 s
.86 s
1.0 s

PHYSICS LAB TWO DIMENSIONAL MOTION

6

Trial 8
Average Time
Final Velocity
Average Velocity

1.13 s
1.5 s
7.96 m/s
3.98 m/s

.80 s
.87 s
7.96 m/s
3.98 m/s

Final Velocity with two textbooks:

vf 2 = vi2 + 2a(xf-xi)
vf2 = 0 + 2(-9.81m/s2)(3.23m-0m)
vf2 = 63.37
vf = 7.96m/s
Average Velocity
vave = (vf-vi)
vave = (7.96m/s)
vave = 3.98 m/s
Discussion:
The data shows that theoretically the vertical motion of the marble should have been
unaffected by the slope of the ramp, no matter how many textbooks where added. At a glance it
could be said that the textbooks did have some kind of an effect on the data but rather when
looked at much closer it can be seen that the data is merely seconds off. The horizontal motion as
well, is theoretically supposedly has no change in velocity whatsoever. It merely stays the same
no matter how many trials would have been performed. Absolutely nothing would change and

PHYSICS LAB TWO DIMENSIONAL MOTION

7

that is a definite fact. The hypothesis originally was that if a marble is given a horizontal slope
before dropping into a vertical drop, then the vertical motion of the marble will approach the
ground at the same speed as if there was no horizontal slope present at all. The theoretical proves
my hypothesis, but the actual does not. This is mainly due to the fact that most of these data is
compromised by human error and outside forces. Mainly, the stopwatch, since human beings are
not robots, exact measurement of the time every time is impossible. Other things like the
particular marble that was in use shattered and a new marble replaced that one. The change of
weight of the marbles could have greatly affected the data in numerous ways. Other small things
such as the door opening to the stairwell could have added air resistance to the experiment.
Galileo best stated it himself when he said that an object will reach the ground the same time no
matter if a horizontal motion would have been added, the downward acceleration is the same.
Conclusion:
The lab demonstrated that horizontal motion, theoretically, has no effect on the final
velocity. The only way this would change would be if force was added to the marble, say it was
thrown towards the ground, or the weight of the marble drastically changed. Since Earth is not a
vacuum, something heavier with more surface area should, in theory, fall to the ground faster. A
way to improve this lab would be doing different trials at different heights with varying marbles
in size and shape. Also maybe setting up a way to accurately measure the time at which the
marble hits the ground instead of just eyeing it.

PHYSICS LAB TWO DIMENSIONAL MOTION

8

Works Citied
Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderlund, L., & Brizee, A. (2010,
May 5). General format. Retrieved from
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
Fowler, M. (2009) Galileo on Projectiles. Retrieved from
http://galileoandeinstein.physics.virginia.edu/tns244.htm
Walker, J. (2014). Pearson Physics. Retrieved from
http://view.ebookplus.pearsoncmg.com/ebook/launcheText.do?
values=bookID::20072::platform::1001::fromloginpage::N::invokeType::lms::launchState
::goToEBook::platform::1001::globalBookID::CM29293095::userID::11577158::scenario
::3::scenarioid::scenario3::courseid::MPCOONEY52943::pageid::::sessionID::30371491
22054379080182015::smsUserID::63278441::hsid::f7885b6e5f32b087e6bb7e540d0d6b3
b