EMAT 3500 Lab Descriptions

 

A group of 2 people will be responsible for setting up and running each lab. While one person in your group runs your lab for other students, the other person in your group will visit another lab.  You will take turns in running your own lab so that each of you has an opportunity to collect data in each lab. For each lab you will record a set of paired data points (at least ten data pairs for most labs).  Record these data pairs in list 1 and list 2 of your TI-83, 83 plus or 84 calculator (or any calculator that has list and STAT capabilities) so that you can create a scatter plot for each lab (independent variable in list 1 and dependent variable in list 2).  Also keep a paper record of your data pairs.

 

1. Bouncing Ball

 

There are two ways to collect this data:

1. Hold the ball at a measured height above the floor.  Drop the ball and measure the height of its first bounce.  Change the position (height) at which you hold the ball and drop again, measuring the height of the first bounce.  Repeat this at least 5 times.
2. Use the CBR (Calculator-Based Ranger) to record the motion of the ball as it continues to bounce (see detailed instructions for setting up the Bouncing Ball experiment with the CBR).

 

2. Balancing Pennies

 

The data from this experiment are needed for your Assignment 16, so please save your data!

 

Create a small fulcrum on which to balance a meter stick (a thick marker works fairly well but you will need to find a way to stop it from rolling).  Record the balance point of the meter stick (e.g. 50 cm).  Place one penny on the beginning of the meter stick (between the 0 and 2 cm marks).  Move the meter stick so that it balances.  Record the new balance point of the meter stick (e.g. 47.5 cm).  Add a second penny on top of the first penny at the beginning of the stick and repeat the procedure.  Continue repeating the procedure for a maximum of ten pennies on top of each other.

 

3. Chill Out!
   
   
   
   Use a temperature probe with a CBL unit to record the cooling of the temperature probe after being immersed in a beaker of hot water (see detailed instructions on provided activity sheet).  You will graph the temperature of the cooling probe over time. The objective is to find a function that fits the collected data and use this function to predict the room temperature in degrees centigrade and how long it would take the probe to reach room temperature.  You should record the starting temperature of the water, your best-fit function, the estimated room temperature and the estimated time to reach room temperature.