Post #6 - Acceleration Lab

Today in class we did another lab showing how velocity increases as an object goes down a hill. This time the graph was a clearer exponential graph because the ramp was more constant than yesterday's hill.

Mass does not matter when two different objects are released at the same time at the same height because they hit the ground at the same time. If one object is released 30 cm above a second object, when they are released the distance between the two objects are 30 cm the entire time.
Below is a graph of a ball thrown up. The position vs. time graph shows that the ball was tossed into the air then it came back to its initial position. The velocity vs. time graph shows that the ball's velocity was fast as it was tossed then began to slow down as it reached its peak. At the peak the ball's velocity was 0 m/s so it was not moving. Then the ball began to return down and started off slow then picked up speed and before it was caught it returned to the same velocity as it was when it was tossed. The acceleration vs. time graph is the slope of the velocity vs. time graph. The acceleration vs. time graph shows that when the slope of the velocity vs. time graph was constant (linear), the acceleration was 0 m/s2. The only time the acceleration showed on the graph was when the ball was first tossed and before it was caught.