Graphical Analysis

Tuesday August 21,2012

Purpose: To gain experience in drawing graphs and in using graphical software.

Lab Equipment: Computer, graphical analysis, lab pro interface, logger pro software, motion detector, rubber ball, wire basket.

Procedure:
1. we turned on the computer and logged in
2. opened the physics apps folder > loaded graphical analysis. there's a text, data, graph window.
    any can be closed and opened at nay time.
3. click file > open > physics > functionplot
    it shows a graph of a function and the data used to create the graph.
4. we chose a function of our own and it must include a title, x and y axis and units
    our function was y= - cos^2 x

5. our graph with title and its labels.
6. then we connected the motion detector to the computer and loaded logger pro and began to graph
    lab. we practiced recording pos vs time graphs by dropping the rubber ball on motion detector        protected by the wire basket. once a nice curve was achieved we did a curve fit.

                                                                x = At^2 + Bt + C
                                                                x = -4.948t^2+ 14.16 - 9.04
   we had to confirm the distance fallen was      d alpha gt^n where g= 9.8 m/s^2
   the acceleration due to gravity.
   what is n in this equation? it is 2 because its a quadratic equation.
7. verify the equation using dimensional analysis and unit analysis.
    m = m / s^2
    [L][T]^2 / [T]

Errors: possible errors include the motion detector not being on a level surface, the basket getting in the way of the detector, body movements after the drop of the ball.
Conclusion: The purpose of this lab was to gain experience in using graphing software. I believe that was achieved because of setting up the lab and practicing gathering data with the motion detector, and being able to analyze the data and curve fit. With the data collected, we were able to test that the acceleration due to gravity is at of 9.8m/s^2.