Mass vs Tangential Velocity K.Kirtanaa, Ms. Perez, November 14, 2016 Research Question: What is the effect of increasing mass on tangential velocity? Introduction: The experiment explores the relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable. The independent variable is what you change in an experiment. In this experiment, the mass of the object is the independent variable. Mass is how much material an object has. (Singh, Lakhmir, 2012) It is the only variable that will be changed throughout the experiment. The dependent variable is what one observes or measures. The dependent variable in this experiment is the tangential velocity. The relationship of tangential velocity and the mass of the object will be observed …show more content…
Once this is done, object 1 may be removed and replaced with the rubber stopper having more mass than the first one. (object 2) Note that, because the width of the stopper is more it will require more string to go through the holes and tie it. Using a metric ruler re-adjust the radius, ensuring that it the exact same radius as the first, 18.9cm. Make sure all the safety procedures are followed, then begin your experiment Hold the tube and swing the stopper in a circular motion ( refer to image 2 ) Try using the same amount of force to move the object in circular motion as with the first object. Do this, while also making sure that stopper ( object 2 ) is being swung in circular motion across a horizontal plane Record the time it takes for the stopper ( object 2 ) to complete 20 revolutions Repeat this five times and record all the observations in the second data table Replace object 2 with the rubber stopper having most mass, this will be object 3. Again, because the width of object 3 is larger than that of object 1 and 2, it will require more string. Using a metric ruler re-adjust the radius so it is exactly the same as the measurements used in the first two experiments …show more content…
It shows that object 1 has a higher tangential velocity. This was calculated by multiplying the radius and rotational speed. Object 2 is seen to be in the middle as it has more mass than object 1 but less mass compared to object 3. Object 3 has the least tangential velocity as can be seen on the graph. A question that arose after this experiment was conducted is, how would the results differ if the force applied when swinging the object was kept the exact same? The experiment could be furthered by increasing the number of trials for more accurate results. Every experiment has errors that affect the accuracy of the results. In the experiment conducted, the three things that could be improved are the force with which all three objects were swung, the radius of the string (for all three objects) and pressing the stop watch without any delays or advances. To finally conclude, the trend observed as part of this experiment was that as the mass increases, the tangential velocity decreases and this also proves the hypothesis correct. Through the experiment, the relationship between mass and tangential velocity was