ANALYSIS

Physics has covers many topics from the study of mechanical waves in
solids, liquids, and gasses to the study of celestial bodies. It also covers mechanics
which a branch of physics that is concerned with the behavior of physical bodies to
forces or displacements. The topic of physics which we have tackled is Kinematics.
Kinematics is a branch of mechanics which describes the motion of points, bodies,
and systems of bodies without considering the motion. In the experiment 102 we
will study the simplest kind of motion, which is the motion of a particle in a
straight line. We will be able to discuss it in terms of space and time.
In kinematics, the motion of the objects are represented by particles. It is
said that in an one dimensional plane, the particle is considered to be moving along
the x-axis with a position that can be described at all times.
If we consider the origin as the initial position X0, and time as t0, after a new
time and a new position. The instantaneous velocity of the particle is equal to the
instantaneous rate of change of position with time.
v x = lim

t0

x dx x 2x 1
= =
t dt t 2t 1

The instantaneous acceleration of the particle is the limit of the average

acceleration as the time interval reaches zero.
a x = lim

t 0

v x d v x v 2v1
=
=
t
dt
t 2t 1

By integrating the second equations and if we consider v0 and t0=0 are the initial
velocity and time, we can represent velocity as a function of time with this
equation.
v =v 0 +at

By integrating the 1st equation and consider that x0 and t0 are zero, will give
as position as a function of time with this equation.
1
x=x 0+ v 0 t + a t 2
2

We can get velocity as a function of position by getting the integral of the

acceleration with respect to position and will give us the equation:
v 2=v 02 +2 a( xx 0 )

Before starting the experiment, we are reminded not to misuse the

component of the set up like the cart being used as a roller skate. We are also
reminded to use the 220V-AC source for the power timer.
In this experiment entitled Kinematics, there are three parts. The first part is
the determination of the average velocity of a dynamics cart, the second part is the
determination of the acceleration due to gravity using the carts acceleration, and
the third part is determining the acceleration due to gravity using picket fence and
the smart timer.
For the first part, the determination of the average velocity of a dynamics
cart we first set up the dynamics track with the end stop, the dynamics cart, and the
two photogates. The next thing we did is to level the track then placed the

dynamics cart in the track. Then the first photogate will be placed in the 25cm
mark and the second photogate will be placed on the 65 cm mark. The next thing
we did is we plugged the photogates in the smart timer then set it to TIME, TWO
GATES. We then start the experiment. For the each trial we will adjust the second
the photogate by 10 cm each. We will do five trials. These are the results that we
came up with.
Table 1. Determination of the Average Velocity of a Dynamic Cart
X o =25 cm

Trial
1
2
3
4
5

Xf

65 cm
75 cm
85 cm
95 cm
105 cm

X =X f X o

40 cm
50 cm
60 cm
70 cm
80 cm

0.5305 s
0.6728 s
0.8157 s
0.9326 s
1.1138 s

v =

X
t

75.4006 cm/s
74.3163 cm/s
73.5365 cm/s
75.0580 cm/s
71.8262 cm/s

The graph of the table with regards to displacement and time is:

The second part of the experiment is to determine the acceleration due to

gravity using carts acceleration. What we did was first to set up the track again
and elevated the 0 cm mark by 5cm at first. We then positioned a photogate at the
80 cm mark. We then set-up the smart timer with ACCEL, ONE GATE. We then
started the experiment by increasing the height of the track by 2 cm each trial. We
solved the carts displacement with this formulas:
X =X f X o

Where,
sin =

H
120

The results of our experiments are written are:

Table 2. Determination of Acceleration
Due to Gravity Using Carts Acceleration
X o =18 cm

L=120 cm

X f =80 cm

Trial
1
2
3
4
5

5 cm
7 cm
9 cm
11 cm
13 cm

38 cm/s2
52.8 cm/s2
71.1 cm/s2
87.8 cm/s2
111.1 cm/s2

average g=949.71

cm
2
s

X =X =62 cm

sin =

H
L

1/24
7/120
3/40
4/120
13/120
error =3.09

The graph of the results of our experiment:

a
sin

Time=

912 cm/s2
905.14 cm/s2
948 cm/s2
957.81 cm/s2
1025.54 cm/s2

1.8064 s
1.5325 s
1.3206 s
1.1884 s
1.0565 s

g=

2X
a

The last part of this experiment is determining acceleration due to gravity

using picket fence and smart timer. What we did was first to set the photogate
horizontally. We held the photogate with our hands. We set the smart timer to
ACCEL, ONE GATE. We then dropped the picket fence vertically within the
photogate. We then repeated this 5 times. The result of this experiment is:

Table 3: Determination of Acceleration Due to Gravity Using Picket

Fence and Smart Timer
Trial
1

976.9 cm/s2

2
3
4
5
AVE

1008.15 cm/s2
950.8 cm/s2
996.0 cm/s2
963.4 cm/s2
979.12 cm/s2

CONCLUSION
The study of motion without considering the causes of those forces. We
found out that instantaneous velocity is equal to increment in displacement all over
the increment in time. We also found out that the instantaneous acceleration is the
increment in velocity all over the increment in time. We also found out that by

using these two equation we can get formulas for expressing velocity as a function
of time, position as a function of time, and velocity as a function of position. We
also found out that the time is directly proportional to the position or displacement
of the particle by using the experiment of determination of the average velocity of
a dynamics cart. We also found out that the sin theta is directly proportional to the
a or acceleration by using the determination of acceleration due to gravity carts
acceleration. We also found out the acceleration due to gravity is about 980 cm/s2
by using the determination of acceleration due to gravity using picket fence and
smart timer, In the experiment, we also found out that height of the track and its
acceleration is directly proportional. We also found out that if the particles slope of
inclination is higher, so is the acceleration.
To determine experimentally due to gravity, we used two parts of the
experiment. The determination of acceleration due to gravity using carts
acceleration and determination of acceleration due using picket fence and smart
timer. We can see the influence of gravity in the acceleration of the cart. We found
that by increasing the height of the track, the acceleration and the g also
increased. The time it took the car to pass through the photogate also lessened as
the height of the track increased. We also got the approximate value of the
acceleration of the gravity by using the picket fence and the smart timer. We found
that after 5 trials we found that the value of g or acceleration due to gravity is
980 cm/s2.