Experiment Analysis

Analysis of an experiment in the vertical fall of a steel bob

Objectives

In the comparison section, you saw a steel bob fall in air over a distance of about 6 feet. The purpose of that experiment for students at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, NY, is to provide a way of measuring the gravitational acceleration, g.

Our purpose here is to analyze the experiment with the following objectives in mind:
  1. Compare what you can learn from a mathematical analysis of the experimental data on distance vs. time with what you can observe visually.
  2. Generalize the velocity vs. time data to apply to any object falling in any fluid.
  3. Introduce the concept of similarity for geometrically similar bobs falling in any fluid.
  4. Relate these ideas to the fall of a skydiver.

Go on to the discover section for observations of this experiment and experimental data.

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