Physics Lab: Gravity Demos

Introduction

In the lab “Gravity Demos,” the common objective is to learn more about gravity and the center of gravity by performing various experiments. The definition of gravity is an attraction between any objects that have mass. Every planet has a gravitational pull, for example, earth’s gravitational pull is 9.8 meters over seconds squared (9.8 m/s2). This means that a bowling ball and a feather would fall at the same speed and hit the ground at the same time if there wasn’t air resistance (a force that slows down objects that move through the air.)

In the lab, there were six experiments that needed to be tested. The first one was balancing a pencil, the prediction I made for this is it will take me fifteen times to balance the

This is because the cap adds more weight to that one side. Before I was able to realize this, I had four unsuccessful attempts, making my fifth attempt my final try. This occurred because of physics, sinc the weight of the pen is uneven due to the cap, one side of the pen is getting pulled more than the side without the extra weight. In the second experiment, it took my four attempts to balance the paper. One thing I had noticed is the paper bent in the middle where my finger was. Since my finger wasn’t centered correctly for three out of the four tries, the paper was being pulled to the right side (the side that had more paper). The third experiment was harder than it sounded. I first believed I would end up falling but instead I wasn’t able to move my left leg upward because in order to keep my body on the wall, I had to use all my strength to stay against the wall. I noticed whenever i tried to move my leg, my face would fall away from the wall. The fourth experiment was the balancing of the broom. In this experiment, you had to be able to move the broom left and right, in a way, you had to work the broom into the floor. It took me eight attempts to balance the broom. Physics is involved because you had to be able to create a balanced force (making each side equal in bristles). The last experiment was the balancing of the soda cans. My prediction is correct, I said the can with the water would be the only can that was able to balance. The empty can wasn’t able to balance because there was no weight that would make it stay. The gravitational pull was greater in the water can than it was in the empty can because the weights were different. In the can that held that water, when it was balancing, the water was being pushed to that corner, making that side heavier, causing it to easily