a vs. w^2 for centripetal force with acceleration activity

a vs. w^2 for centripetal force with acceleration activity

Purpose: 

Through giving the turntable several different acceleration and measuring the period, find out the relationship between the acceleration and the square of the omega w.

Equipment:

Turntable, motion sensor, and timer.

Experiment:

1. Set up the apparatus as the pictures show.

2. Tape the motion sensor at the boundary of the spinning disk.

3. Give the disk a initial velocity, and record the time for three periods.

4. Divide the time by three to get the value of period.

5. Read the value of acceleration from the computer.

6. Repeat step 3-5 with different initial velocity.

7. Calculate the omega w through period T. T=2 pai / w

8. Calculate the square of omega w.

9. Enter the data of period, acceleration and square of omega w.

10. Graph the relationship between acceleration and square of omega w.

11. Click linear fit to get the equation and read the slope.

12. Compare the slope with the radius of the disk.

Result:

Slope: 0.1831+/-0.005119  

Radius: 0.19m

Conclusion:

The relationship between acceleration and the square of omega w is linear equation, the slope of the equation is the radius of the circular motion. 

Therefore, we can get the formula a=w^2*r