Measurement of the Acceleration Of Gravity

Stephen Tranovich
Partners: James Ranfone and Jasmine Vicencio Physics Intermediate a! I"or Stra#ovs#y $%&'%'(&)

I*

A!stract

The purpose of this e+periment ,as to measure the acceleration of "ravity in the -istrict of .olum!ia* This ,as done throu"h measurin" periods of a simple pendulum and ,or#in" !ac#,ards mathematically to find the value of "* The value for the acceleration of "ravity in /ashin"ton -. found throu"h non0 di"ital means ,ere $*$12%0(*(&1 m%s' uncorrected and &&*')2%0(*&) m%s' corrected* 3sin" di"ital means a hi"her value ,as found4 thus ,ith more error4 for " at &'*1$562%0'*(((( m%s '*

II*

Introduction

The acceleration of "ravity is #no,n to many !y its shortened form of $*1 m%s '* A more e+act form of the conventional standard value of " e+ists as $*1(776 m%s ' &* This value is the conventional standard4 !ut in truth the e+act value of " fluctuates &* In /ashin"ton -. the canonical value of the acceleration or "ravity is $*1(& m%s'* The purpose of this e+periment is to measure the value of " in /ashin"ton -.* The e8uation used for the acceleration of "ravity is !elo,*

In this e8uation G is the "ravitational constant4 a value calculated in la! 6* M is the mass4 so in this case the mass of the earth ,ould !e used* The varia!le r is the distance from the mass* As can !e seen4 as one moves farther from the mass the acceleration due to "ravity decreases e+ponentially* This accounts for the variation in " !ased on one9s altitude* The r hat denotes the direction from the mass4 and the ne"ative indicates that the effects of "ravity are in the opposite direction4 meanin" "ravity pulls rather than pushes* 3nderstandin" the acceleration of "ravity is crucial in the study of mechanics4 and ,ithout #no,in" it many mechanical devices ,ould not function properly* III* :+perimental Setup

The setup of this e+periment consists of a simple pendulum hun" from the arm of a pole4 ,hich has a notch on its end to help prevent the strin" from movin"* At the end of the strin" is a ,ei"ht4 ,hich sits rou"hly ten centimeters from a curved piece of metal* This metal is a fraction of a circle ,ith tic#s on it4 used to measure the startin" and endin" an"les of the pendulum* ;or the non0di"ital parts of this e+periment a series of stop,atches ,ere used to measure the period of the pendulum s,in"s* ;or the di"ital portion the ,ei"ht of the pendulum s,in"s !et,een an led and a li"ht receiver4 !oth of ,hich connect to a circuit4 then microcontroller4 then a computer* As the pendulum s,in"s it !rea#s the connection !et,een the :- and receiver4 sendin" this data to soft,are on the computer for period calculation*

;i"ure &: :+perimental Setup IV* -ata Table 1: Calculation of Length and Degrees per Tick
Measurements (m) Iteration 1 2 3 " 5 &'erage x1 (m) 1.552 1.5515 1.5515 1.552 1.5515 1.551$ x2 (m) . 2!5 . 2$2 . 2!2 . 2!3 . 2!2 . 2!"# Error +/- .2 cm x3 (m) .13 .1332 .13 .13 .132 .131 " l (m) 1." #$5 1." "$ 1." #" 1." ##5 1." !" 1." $"2 m per 5 ticks .1 $ .1 # .1 $2 .1 $ .1 # .1 $"" m per tick . 21" . 21! . 21"" . 21" . 21! . 21"## Deg per tick .#$ 3%2$% .##1 ! 25 .#$223!" .#$ 331 1 .#$%%%52! .#$"# 31"

Table 2: Calculation of g and Errors

(ime o) 1 s*ings at 2 +egrees (s) 23.51 23."3 23.5" 23.$% 23.$1 23.!1 23.5"

Iteration 1 2 3 " 5 ! $

1 ,*ing 2.351 2.3"3 2.35" 2.3$% 2.3$1 2.3!1 2.35"

-ncorrecte+ g 1 . 525$#2$ 1 .1213"3 3 1 . 2!%$2 5 %.#1$3" 11# %.##3$ 1332 %.%!$! 33"" 1 . 2!%$2 5

.orrecte+ g 11.3121!!3 11.3#%5"$3 11.2#3351! 11. "$"52# 11.12212%1 11.21!5"" 11.2#3351!

# % 1 &'erage ,t+. De'iation ,t+. Error /elati'e Error

23."% 23.!1 23.$3 23.5%! .11 1%%#2 . 11 2

2.3"% 2.3!1 2.3$3 2.35%! . 11 1%%#2 . 11 2 ")

1 . !%$ 3!1 %.%!$! 33"" %.#!$ "# #% %.%# #!523 . %3 !"!5 . %3 !5 . 1# "5 !

11.331"3$5 11.21!5"" 11.1 33#%2 11.23 5%1" .1 "!! 1$ . 1 "!! .12$3"$#2

('ersus gn 0 %.#

Table 3: 700 Periods non!digital

$1 1erio+s at 3 Degrees (ime 1erio+s (minutes) 1 1 1 1 11 1 1 $1 &'erage ,t+. De'iation ,t+. Error 3.5$#2 3.5##" 3.5%$5 3.5$#2 ".1$21 3.5$#3 3.55$" 2#. 53# 3.!!"3 .22"252 !1 . "5$!5$3 .orrecte+ g 13.5!"%# 5 13."#$%$ $# 13."1%#2 $5 13.5!"%# 5 12. $325 #3 13.5!"22 !# 13.$2" $ !$ 13.3"2$! 2" .5!$"32 #" . 115# 2!

1erio+ (s) 2.1"!%2 2.153 " 2.15#5 2.1"!%2 2.2$5!% % % 2.1"!%# 2.13"""

-ncorrecte+ g 12. 5"5"%#! 11.%#!11$33 11.%25555"3 12. 5"5"%#! 1 .$2#%2" # 12. 53#$!11 12.1%5%2$ #

2.1!! $ 13 . "##%13 $ . %%$$# 2

11.#5$ $13% .5 "25 2$! . 1 2% #22

"igures 2 # $: Period %u&ber '(econds )s* %u&ber+ and Probabilit, Densit, "unctions '%u&ber of s-ings at that period )s* (econds+

P e r io d o f 1 7 . 5 d e g r e e P e n d u l u m , D ig it a l 2 .3 8 6 P e r io d 2 .3 8 4 2 .3 8 2 2 .3 8 2 .3 7 8 0 100 200 400 P e r io d N u m b e r P D F o f P e r io d a t 1 7 . 5 d e g r e e s 300 500 600 700

800 600 D e n s it y 400 200 0 2 .3 7 8 2 .3 7 9 2 .3 8 2 .3 8 1 2 .3 8 2 2 .3 8 3 2 .3 8 4 V a lu e P D F o f P e r io d a t 2 0 d e g r e e s 2 .3 8 5 2 .3 8 6 2 .3 8 7 2 .3 8 8

150 100 D e n s it y 50 0 2 .3 6

2 .3 6 5

2 .3 7

2 .3 7 5

2 .3 8

2 .3 8 5 2 .3 9 V a lu e P D F o f P e r io d a t 5 d e g r e e s

2 .3 9 5

2 .4

2 .4 0 5

2 .4 1

3 2 D e n s it y 1 0 0 .8

0 .9

1 .1 V a lu e

1 .2

1 .3

1 .4

1 .5

.alues of g /&0s21: Actual .anonical:

$*1(&

.alculated .anonical: $*1((< Avera"e uncorrected non0di"ital: &(*$&$ Avera"e corrected non0di"ital: &'*'15 Avera"e di"ital: &'*1$56 =see Appendi+ for MAT A> code calculations?

V*

Analysis

;or the ta!les ,ere done in i!re Office9s spread sheet =an open source soft,are similar to Microsoft9s :+cel? so that calculations for multiple columns could !e filled in 8uic#ly and more accurately than calculatin" !y hand* The first ta!le is concerned ,ith calculatin" the len"th of the strin" and the de"rees per tic#4 !oth essential for completin" the physical and analytical parts of the la! properly* All of the values in each column here are similar to each other4 ,hich is "ood for the accuracy of our calculations* The second ta!le is concerned ,ith calculatin" values for " throu"h the analysis of &( pendulum s,in"s done &( times* @ere the uncorrected values of " are close to the canonical value4 !ut ,hen multiplied !y &*&'6) =see Appendi+? for the correction4 the value "ro,s in error* The third ta!le does the same as the second4 !ut ,ith &(( period increments of a set of 5(( periods* The uncorrected values of " avera"e to a value near that of the corrected " in chart '4 and the inclusion of corrections further adds to the num!er* The errors for this chart !rea# &A thou"h stay !elo, 'A error* The ne+t part of the data deals ,ith the di"ital method* /hile the non0di"ital method had people countin" periods ,ith a stop,atch4 the di"ital method had an :- li"ht !ein" interrupted once a period from the ,ei"hts motion4 and a computer #ept trac# of the timin"* This "ave !oth types their o,n uni8ue sources of error* The four successive fi"ures ,ere all created usin" MAT A>4 and all represent information collected via di"ital methods* The first is a fi"ure of period versus period num!er* -espite the variation that occurs !et,een adBacent periods4 a slo, linear decrease can !e seen in the period as time "oes on* This decrease is from the com!ination of friction !et,een the strin" and lever arm4 and the viscosity of air* >oth of these ,ill slo,ly slo, the s,in"in" of the pendulum* The ne+t three fi"ures sho, the pro!a!ility density functions of three different startin" an"les s,in"in" for around 5(( periods* The first t,o fi"ures are for similar startin" an"les4 and therefore e+ist at around the same values* These values are much more ri"ht leanin" than that of the smaller startin" an"le* This ma#es sense !ecause these lar"er an"les mean the ,ei"ht must travel farther4 meanin" more

distance to travel4 ,hich leads to a hi"her pea# velocity* @i"her velocity means the ,ei"ht overall has a hi"her momentum4 ,hich increases it9s resistance to chan"e and decreasin" the effect of friction* The final section of data sho,s the different final values of " "iven and calculated throu"hout the e+periment* As you can see4 the "iven values of " are smaller than those ,hich ,ere calculated* The uncorrected4 non0di"ital value of " is a!out &(A hi"her than the canonical4 !ut the corrected and the di"ital values are !et,een )(0<(A hi"her than the actual4 ,hich is 8uite hi"h*

VI*

.onclusion

The value for the acceleration of "ravity in /ashin"ton -. found throu"h this e+periment ,ere $*$12%0(*(' m%s' uncorrected and &&*')2%0(*&) m%s' corrected* As can !e seen4 the determined values of " are all hi"her than the canonical values* If you loo# at the e8uation for "4 only t,o varia!les are present: the len"th of the strin" and the time of one period* Seein" as the value is too hi"h and the len"th of the strin" in the numerator4 it seems li#ely that the lar"est part of the error comes from the inaccurate measurin" of the len"th of the strin"* A ,ooden ruler ,as used to measure different parts of the pendulum4 and from them the len"th ,as determined4 yieldin" an estimated error of 2%0 ' cm* If I ,ere to redo the la! I ,ould spend e+tra ener"y findin" more accurate e8uipment =such as a metal ruler or another device? to complete these measurements4 and I ,ould measure the strin" directly as another measurement of this e+periment* The di"ital value of " ,as even hi"her than the non0di"ital at &'*1$562%0'*(((( m%s '* Throu"hout the la! the circuit ,as "ivin" the "roup pro!lems4 and even ,hen it ,as ,or#in" it recorded many outlier points* The soft,are ,as made to i"nore such outliers4 such as periods of 6 seconds4 !ut I !elieve it ,as less adept at eliminatin" values ,hich ,ere too lo,4 such as periods of one second for the '( de"ree and &5*6 de"ree startin" an"les* If the period avera"e ,as lo,ered !y these outliers4 this ,ould increase the overall calculated "* This compounded ,ith the len"th !ein" too lon" ,ould "ive the di"ital value of " an e+tra increase4 li#e ,as received here* /hen first creatin" ;i"ures )4 < and 6 =the pro!a!ility density functions? they did not resem!le a density function in any ,ay* @o,ever4 ,hen these lo, values ,ere removed4 the resultin" fi"ure very much resem!led density functions4 as they do a!ove* This proved the lo, values ,ere errors4 and ,ere therefore omitted from the fi"ures* Some other measurements ,ould have increased the accuracy of our data4 !ut re8uired e8uipment not availa!le* /hen data ,as first !ein" collected the endin" an"les of the pendulum ,ere !ein" collected as ,ell as the startin" an"les* It 8uic#ly !ecame apparent that the tools and pendulum at hand did not allo, for nearly enou"h accuracy to measure this !ecause our estimated error =2%0 ' de"rees? ,as lar"er than the e+pected chan"e in an"le* Some of the measured endin" an"les ,ere lar"er than the startin" an"les4 ,hich is impossi!le4 ,hile others ,ildly varied for the same startin" an"les* It is for this reason that these measurements ,ere stopped4 and ,hat ,e had ,ere omitted from this report* In successive attempts at this la!4 more accurate tools and a lon"er pendulum ,ould !e desired in order to increase accuracy*

The results in this la!4 ,hile not entirely on point4 ma#e sense ,hen the process and e8uipment used are analyCed !ased on their mathematical impact on "* In the future4 the chan"es stated a!ove ,ould increase the precision of the e+periment and "ive more accurate values of "*

VII*
&

Appendi+

23ra'itational &cceleration.2 Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 4ikime+ia 5oun+ation6 Inc. 11 &ugust

2 13. 4e7. 2 ,ept. 2 13.

%Correction Calculation h=2.78; r=1.575; l=140; u=0.049; pb=8.3; pa=0.0013; sig=1;%could not ind e!act "alue# so esti$ated 1 because "alue $ust be s$all to use s$all%angle theore$ "olu$e=pi&h&r'2; $="olu$e&pb; %c is short or Correction actor c1=(h'2)3&r'2*+(12&l'2*; c2=u+(,&$*; c3=sig'2+8; c4=(8&pa*+(5&pb*; ctotal=1)c1%c2)c3)c4 %-ns.er= 1.1253 %Canonical /alue o g g0=9.7803184,; alpha=.0053024; beta=%.0000058; la$bda=0.,724753,1; %38.53 degrees in radians gn=g0&(1)alpha&sin(la$bda*'2)beta&sin(2&la$bda*'2* %-ns.er= 9.8004 %0eriod "s 0erid nu$ber graph periodnu$ = linspace(1#700#700*; subplot(4#1#1*; scatter(periodnu$#arra117#2.2* 1li$(32.378 2.3884* !label(20eriod 5u$ber2* 1label(20eriod2* title(20eriod o 17.5 degree 0endulu$# 6igital2* %067 o 5 6egrees 3 #!i4 = 8sdensit1(arra117#arra117*; %pd subplot(4#1#2*; scatter(!i# *; title(2067 o 0eriod at 17.5 degrees2*; esti$ate

!li$(32.378 2.3884*; !label(2/alue2*; 1label(26ensit12*; 3 #!i4 = 8sdensit1(arra120#arra120*; %pd subplot(4#1#3*; scatter(!i# *; title(2067 o 0eriod at 20 degrees2*; !li$(32.3, 2.414*; !label(2/alue2*; 1label(26ensit12*; 3 #!i4 = 8sdensit1(arra1#arra1*; %pd subplot(4#1#4*; scatter(!i# *; title(2067 o 0eriod at 5 degrees2*; !li$(30.8 1.54*; !label(2/alue2*; 1label(26ensit12*; esti$ate

esti$ate

% inding a"erages a"glength=1.40742; period17=su$(arra117*+700; period20=su$(arra120*+4,9; period5=su$(arra1*+700; g17=4&pi'2&(a"glength+(period17*'2*%ans.er 9.7537 g20=4&pi'2&(a"glength+(period20*'2*%ans.er 12.0877 g5=4&pi'2&(a"glength+(period5*'2*%ans.er 1,.8513 g-"erage=(g5)g17)g20*+3%ans.er 12.8975

Individual data values from electronic data is omitted for !revity*