This lab is based on the video entitled Motion in a Circle from the Direct Measurement Video Project hosted at Science Education Research Center at Carleton College (SERC). The copyright for these videos belongs to School District 197 in Mendota Heights, Minnesota. The project is partially funced by a Science Foundtation Grant #1245268 awarded in September 2013.

The following lab implementation was designed for use in my Honors Physics I class and only represents one method of analyzing the data provided in the video. Notice at the bottom of the opening screen that there is a drop down listing of different radii. You will be viewing a total of nine (9) clips and recording the radius of the 500-gram hooked mass' center of mass, the scale reading, frame rate, and the frame numbers to complete five complete revolutions. Notice that there is a second drop down listing to change to frame rate. I would recommend using 240 frames/second. Before collecting data, play the video of radius#1 several times to become familiar with the scenario of the experiment.

 

 

 

Before continuing with forward with your conclusions, you should have discovered that all nine (9) radii had the same period of revolution. If this is not true, go back and repeat any necessary trials. Once your data has been updated, continue on with the conclusions.  

 

 

Now you need to launch EXCEL and save your file in the physics Z:\drive as VideoCircularMotion_LastnameLastnameLastname.xls. You are now going to graph the data for the scale reading in newtons on the y-axis vs the centripetal acceleration in m/sec² on the x-axis. After all of your data has been entered into EXCEL, create a scatter plot and add its trendline. Make sure to display the equation of the line and the value of R².

 

Type in the names of the group members on the EXCEL file so that they will be displayed on the printout. Print a copy for each team member as well as one for your teacher. Please use print preview to make sure that your printout will only be one page.