First lab was to measure the time it took for several objects to fall from a measured height. We discussed what factors we could control such as using the same person to do the drop and the same person to do the timing. We used the formula x=1/2*a*t2 to determine if we had measured the time accurately as we knew the displacement (x) and the acceleration of gravity (a). We calculated the margin of error in our time measurements.
We also had a lesson in solving (using Solver in TI 84) this type of equation on the Texas Instruments graphing calculator. We have several used graphing calculators. A good graphing calculator app for ipad (Search for TI84) is about $10, much less than a graphing calculator. A used TI 83 or 84 is maybe $25. Don't buy an 86 or 89. It would be very useful if you purchased either a calculator or the app as we will be performing many of the same calculations and also need a way to look up sine, cosine and tangent later in the course.
Second lab was using a tennis ball and stopwatch to measure the height of the library roof where we meet. Again, using the formula above we measured the time for the ball to drop from the roof to the sidewalk. We were not able to climb on the roof so we thru the ball in the air so that it reached the level of the roof then timed the drop to the sidewalk. With our measurement of time (t) and the acceleration of gravity (a) we measured the height of the roof. We were able to verify this by counting the number of panels in the wall of the building and multiplying by the height of a panel.
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