Acceleration and Motion Detector Lab

(Download the MS Word version of this document.)

Procedure

Day 1

1. Connect the computer, ULI, and motion detector. Start the Logger Pro program, choose the Motion Detector folder, and the Motion Detector lab.
2. Using the View menu, and Graph Layout, choose two panes. You should see a d vs t graph.
3. Accelerate smoothly as you walk away from the motion detector. Sketch the resulting d vs t and v vs t graphs below.

   

4. Repeat step 3, this time walking toward the detector as you accelerate smoothly. Sketch the resulting d vs t and v vs t graphs below.

   

Day 2

1. Log in to the network, choose Science, Logger Pro, and follow the steps you followed yesterday to open "Ramp and Motion Detector" on the Template drive.
2. Produce the motion that corresponds to the following graphs using the ramp and cart, the motion detector, ULI, and the computer.
3. Sketch the orientation of the ramp, cart, and motion detector that you chose to use to produce each pair of graphs.
4. Sketch the v vs t graph for each case (or the d vs t graph, if applicable).
5. In each case, indicate whether the slope of each graph is
   1. increasing, decreasing, or constant
   2. positive or negative
   3. distance, velocity, or acceleration

Ramp Sketch	d vs. t graph	The slope is . . .	v vs. t graph	The slope is . . .
		(a) (b) (c)		(a) (b) (c)
		(a) (b) (c)		(a) (b) (c)
		(a) (b) (c)		(a) (b) (c)
		(a) (b) (c)		(a) (b) (c)
		(a) (b) (c)		(a) (b) (c)
		(a) (b) (c)		(a) (b) (c)