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Cart on Track: Qualitative Testing Experiment
Aim
A test of your model of the relationship between acceleration of an object and the net force of the forces exerted on it by other objects.
Prior Knowledge
A relationship between the acceleration of an object and the net force exerted on it by other objects constructed after the analysis of the data collected in two previous experiments.
Description of the Experiment
A dynamics cart is held at rest on a level track. A spring scale is attached to the cart and a string is attached to the spring scale. The string passes over a pulley at the end of the track and a hanging mass is attached. Predict what will happen to the reading on the spring scale when the cart is released.
Addtional Information
Note that the scale is difficult to read. The zero point is the point on the dial closest to the camera. The scale then reads increasing force in a clockwise direction.
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Questions
- What objects exert forces on the cart before it is released? Draw a free-body diagram for the cart. Decide which of this forces corresponds to the reading of the scale.
- What objects exert forces on the hanging object before it is released? Draw a free-body diagram for the hanging object. Decide which of this forces corresponds to the reading of the scale.
- What objects exert forces on the hanging object after it is released? Draw a free-body diagram for the hanging object. Decide which of this forces corresponds to the reading of the scale.
- What objects exert forces on the cart after it is released? Draw a free-body diagram for the cart.Decide which of this forces corresponds to the reading of the scale.
- What is the direction of the cart's acceleration after it is released? How does the free body diagram you drew in 2 explains this?
- Should the reading on the scale increase or decrease when the cart is released?
