The study of Newtonian Mechanics begins with studying the one dimensional motion of objects. This is most easily done by observing and measuring the characteristics of objects that are dropped from some height.

This week we will be doing some physical experiments as well as some JAVA applets that are designed to have you measure the motion of falling objects.

The only quantities that you will be able to measure are:

Time

Length

With measurements of time and length you will be able to compute velocities, accelerations and energies. From this information you will be able to make predictions.

The basic experimental procedure will be to:

• Drop objects of different mass from different heights and measure when they pass fixed reference points:

• Determine which objects have the most energy when they hit our "energy detector" at the bottom. You will have to aim well for this.

You will record your data on regular paper but then will transfer all this data to the electronic lab book when it is ready. Your identifier for your own lab book will be the last 4 digits of our student number.

Experimental Procedure