Finding the Mass of a Key Lab

Greg and Megan

Abstract:
This lab was designed and preformed with the purpose to find the
unknown mass of a key using the natural forces of gravity. For the lab to
be properly preformed, 2 identical known masses were attached to a
string and placed over a pulley. On one of the masses the key was then
attached by a small piece of string. This simple and successful lab only
requires a few variables in order to calculate the mass of the key. These
variables consist of the time it takes for the key to fall, the distance it
falls, and the known masses on each side of the pulley. With the data
collected over 6 trials, we calculated the mass of the key which came
very close to its true mass. In actuality we only had 2.52% error. There
are a few aspects of our lab which could be improved with further
investigation.

Background Information:
Tension force is the force applied to an object when a rope or cable is used to
pull or lift it, and the tension is the same throughout the rope. By using free
body diagrams and Newtons second law, the tension forces of two objects
connected by the same rope can be made equal to each other to get the
formula:

In order
to find acceleration, the following
kinematic equation can be used:

Mass, gravity, and acceleration are all connected. By measuring the time an
object with an unknown mass takes to fall to the ground and the distance at
which it falls, it is possible to manipulate Newtons second law and other
formulas in order to determine this unknown mass. If Newtons second

law is true and the formulas are correct then the calculated mass of
the key should equal the actual mass of the key.

Materials:

Key
Two 500 g weights
Ring stand
Pulley and string
Table

Method:
After gathering all materials, set up your apparatus with the two weights on
either side of the pulley with the string connecting them. Add a key to one of
the masses and move it upwards (by pulling the other mass down) so it is
right beside the pulley. Measure the distance between the mass with the key
and the table. Release the keyless weight and calculate the time it takes
from release for the weight with the key to hit the table. Repeat this process
so you have multiple trials and are able to take an average of all the
recorded times for more accurate data and calculations.

Data & Calculations:

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

Time (s)
2.56

Distance (cm)
56.9

2.56

56.9

2.42

56.9

2.44

56.9

2.44

56.9

2.42

56.9

Calculated Mass (g)

19.5 g

Analysis:

Actual Mass (g)

18.87 g

Our results in terms of calculating the mass of the key using the natural
forces of gravity came quite close to the keys true mass. In fact, our percent
error was about 2.5% giving us quite a precise answer. As predicted, we only
needed to find the time it took for the key to hit the ground (or zeroed
surface) and the distance it fell in order to do our calculations. From the
results in our table, we were very accurate in timing the fall of key making
our calculations more accurate.

Discussion:
After analyzing our data and going over our calculations we feel confident we
preformed this lab quite successfully. Due to the fact that there was such
little data to collect, we found this lab quite simple and easy to complete.
Being that time was our only changing variable (we measured the distance
accurately at 56.9 cm), we could pay more attention in ensuring its values
were accurate. Based on the trends of our data table we are confident in
saying our data was well collected. That said, there is still a few errors within
this lab in which we could improve on in order to increase accuracy. Firstly,
we could have easily done more than 6 trials giving us a more appropriate
average of times. Next, we assumed that there was no friction in the pulley
between the two masses. In reality, there is a small amount of friction which
affects the results of the time it takes for the key to fall. This lab gave us a
better understanding on how forces can affect an object and furthermore
how we can find the mass of that object. We could furthermore research how
the pulley affects the masses because of friction or devise a different way to
compare the two masses.