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physics assignment work, Papers of Physics

Allegheny CollegePhysics

basic physics assignment work 2025

Typology: Papers

2025/2026

Uploaded on 04/03/2026

prasanthi-4
prasanthi-4 🇺🇸

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Lab 3: Newton’s Second Law
Name: __________________
Objectives:
1. You will investigate system acceleration variation as the net applied force on the system increases while the
mass remains constant.
2. You will investigate how the acceleration of a system varies as the mass of the system increases without
changing the net applied force.
Introduction:
Force = a push or pull upon an object, capable of accelerating that object, resulting from that object’s interaction
with another object. Forces only exist because of interaction. Measured using Newton.
Mass = refers to the amount of matter contained by the object; never altered by location, the pull of gravity, speed,
or any other force. The unit of mass is the kilogram (kg) in SI units.
Weight = the force of gravity acting on an object depends on which planet is exerting the pull
Newton’s First Law of Motion: An object at rest remains at rest, unless acted upon by some net force. An object in
motion remains in motion unless acted upon by some net force. Sometimes called the law of inertia.
Example 1: an ice hockey puck will continue to move with the same velocity until it hits the boards.
Example 2: A car comes to a sudden stop, a package in the car continues to slide forward because it continues in its
state of motion, maintaining its velocity as the car decreases its velocity.
Net force = sum of all forces acting on a body
Inertia=the tendency of an object to move at a constant velocity
Newton’s Second Law of Motion: The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on it
and is inversely proportional to its mass. The direction of the acceleration is the direction of the net force acting on it
Newton’s Third Law of Motion: To every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Every push produces two
forces. Example: when you push a box forward, you also feel the box pushing at your hand. Example: When a
person walks, with each step, he exerts force on the ground with his foot and the ground exerts force back on the
person’s foot.
Virtual Lab:
1
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Lab 3: Newton’s Second Law

Name: __________________

Objectives:

  1. You will investigate system acceleration variation as the net applied force on the system increases while the mass remains constant.
  2. You will investigate how the acceleration of a system varies as the mass of the system increases without changing the net applied force.

Introduction:

Force = a push or pull upon an object, capable of accelerating that object, resulting from that object’s interaction with another object. Forces only exist because of interaction. Measured using Newton. Mass = refers to the amount of matter contained by the object; never altered by location, the pull of gravity, speed, or any other force. The unit of mass is the kilogram (kg) in SI units. Weight = the force of gravity acting on an object depends on which planet is exerting the pull Newton’s First Law of Motion: An object at rest remains at rest, unless acted upon by some net force. An object in motion remains in motion unless acted upon by some net force. Sometimes called the law of inertia. Example 1: an ice hockey puck will continue to move with the same velocity until it hits the boards. Example 2: A car comes to a sudden stop, a package in the car continues to slide forward because it continues in its state of motion, maintaining its velocity as the car decreases its velocity. Net force = sum of all forces acting on a body Inertia=the tendency of an object to move at a constant velocity Newton’s Second Law of Motion: The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on it and is inversely proportional to its mass. The direction of the acceleration is the direction of the net force acting on it Newton’s Third Law of Motion: To every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Every push produces two forces. Example: when you push a box forward, you also feel the box pushing at your hand. Example: When a person walks, with each step, he exerts force on the ground with his foot and the ground exerts force back on the person’s foot. Virtual Lab:

Part I: Varying Force with a Constant Mass Objective: You will investigate system acceleration variation as the net applied force on the system increases while the mass remains constant. Visit the link https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/forces-and-motion-basics/latest/forces-and-motion-basics_en.html

  1. When the simulation starts, you’ll see four options. Choose the option Motion.
  2. Select force, values, masses, stopwatch, and speed as shown in the picture on the first page of the lab.
  3. Click on the pause button. Then play button will display.
  4. Then click on the play button on the stopwatch.
  5. Apply force on an object by dragging the blue button (click left mouse and hold it at a certain value of the force). Record the value of the force in the table given below.
  6. Record initial velocity. That will be 0 m/s.
  7. Then play button to play the simulation display.
  8. Pause the simulation after playing after a few seconds.
  9. Note down the initial velocity, final velocity and the time taken during this change and calculate the acceleration. You can use a stopwatch for the measurement of time.
  10. Find the difference between the theoretical acceleration and measured accelerations.
  11. Repeat steps 4 to 6 for different values of the force.

Mass, m = 50 kg (This is theoretical value for this part.)

S.N. Force

F

(N)

Theoretical acceleration

a 1 =

F

m

(m/s^2 ) Initial Speed

v i (m/

s) Final Speed

v f (m/

s) Time

Taken t

(s) Measured Acceleration

a 2 =

v f − v i

t

% Error

|^ a^1 −^ a^2 |

a 1

× 100

  1. Plot a graph of force vs acceleration and find the slope of the graph. You need to type the x-axis values (i.e., the acceleration) in the first column and the y-axis values (i.e., the force) in the second column in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to plot the graph correctly. Please include the graph in the lab report.

Part II: Varying mass with a Constant Force Objective: You will investigate how the acceleration of a system varies as the mass of the system increases without changing the net applied force. Visit the link https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/forces-and-motion-basics/latest/forces-and-motion-basics_en.html

  1. When the simulation starts, you’ll see four options. Choose the option Motion.
  2. Select force, values, masses, stopwatch, and speed as shown below.
  3. Click on the pause button. Then play button will display.
  4. Then click on the play button on the stopwatch.
  5. Apply force on an object by dragging the blue button (click left mouse and hold it at a certain value of the force). Record the value of the force in the table given below.
  6. Record initial velocity. That will be 0 m/s.
  7. Then play button to play the simulation display.
  8. Pause the simulation after playing after a few seconds.
  9. Note down the initial velocity, final velocity and the time taken during this change and calculate the acceleration. You can use a stopwatch for the measurement of time.
  10. Find the difference between the theoretical acceleration and measured accelerations.
  11. Repeat steps from 4 to 6 for different masses. You can choose different objects. Make sure that the applied force is the same in each case.

Applied force, F = ……. N (You can choose any value of your choice. This is the theoretical value for this part.)

S.N. Mass

m

(kg) Inverse of mass 1/M (1/kg) Theoretical acceleration

a 1 =

F

m

(m/s^2 ) Initial Speed

v i (m/

s) Final Speed

v f (m/

s) Time Take

n t

(s) Measured acceleration

a 2 =

v f − v i

t

% Error

|^ a^1 −^ a^2 |

a 1

× 100

  1. Plot a graph of acceleration vs inverse of mass (i.e., 1/m) and find the slope of the graph. You need to type the x-axis values (i.e., 1/m) in the first column and the y-axis values (i.e., the acceleration) in the second column in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to plot the graph correctly. Please include the graph in the lab report.
  1. What is the slope of the graph? 100N (Don’t forget to write the unit.)
  2. Compare the value of the slope with the value of applied force. Find % error.

% error =

| theoretical value − experimental value |

theoretical value

× 100 =¿

Type equation here.

% error = (100 -100) / 100 x100 =0% Conclusions: As mass increase, acceleration decreased. The graph of acceleration vs inverse mass was a straight line, showing acceleration is inversely proportional to mass when force is constant. The slope matched the applied force, confirming Newton’s Second Law. Post-Lab questions:

  1. What happens to the acceleration of our system when the mass of the system increases but the net force stays constant? A = F/m If mass increases, acceleration becomes smaller
  2. What happens to the acceleration of our system when the net applied force increases but the mass of the system does not change? Acceleration increases proportionally. Doubling the force doubles the acceleration

Grading Rubric for Lab 3: Newton’s Second Law Motion

As you know from the syllabus for this course, each lab you complete is worth 20 points. This rubric is

provided so that you can see where the 20 points come from and so that you can be sure to include

everything listed so that you maximize your points on this lab report. I will follow this rubric when

grading your Lab 3. If you do not complete or do not include a part listed on this rubric, then those points

will be automatically deducted from your overall 20 points score.

Good Luck!

Part I

Data 4 points

Graph with line of best fit 1 points

Slope value with unit 1 point

Error Analysis 1 point

Conclusion 1.5 Points

Part II

Data 4 points

Graph with line of best fit 1 points

Slope value with unit 1 point

Error Analysis 1 point

Conclusion 1.5 Points

Post-lab questions 3 ×1 point = 3 points

Total Points: 20 Points