Motion of Freely Falling Objects

Objectives: * To study the motion of free falling objects * To determine the acceleration due to gravity, g. * To derive quantities from the slope and intercept of graphs * To determine if the motion of a falling object changes by varying its mass

Theory:
The free fall is a known example or the most common example of a uniformly accelerated movement, with an acceleration a = -9.8m/s2 (vertical axis pointing vertically upward). If you choose the vertical axis pointing vertically downward, the acceleration is taken as + 9.8m/s2. The kinematic equations for a rectilinear movement under the acceleration of gravity are the same as any movement with constant acceleration:
(1) v = vi - gt velocity as function of time.
(2) y - yi = ½(vi + v)t displacement as function of time
(3) y - yi = vit - ½gt2 displacement as function of time
(4) v2 = vi2 -2g(x - xi) velocity as function of displacement
The sub index i denotes initial quantities, g the gravity acceleration and t, the time.

But for this type of motion, the displacement of the object as a function of time is described mathematically as: (5) ∆y=Vot + ½gt2 where Vo is the initial velocity of the object. If object if just drop velocity, Equation (5) becomes (6) ) ∆y=½gt2

Methodology
Procedure:
* A digital balance was used to measure the masses of the small and big steel balls. * A set-up of the free fall sensor was followed on the book. * The color-coded cables was connected to its color-coded socket. * Coach 6 free fall activity was clicked in the desktop of the computer. * The small steel ball was attached to the free fall sensor. * The steel ball was released after clicking the Start Button. * The stop button was clicked after the steel ball