Lab Onegalileo

Lab One – Galileo’s Dilemma All things initially speed up when they fall, but as scientists we want to be able to describe the way they speed up as clearly as possible. Do they get faster by a constant amount each unit of time (like seconds), by a constant amount each unit of distance (like meters) or is it more complicated than either of these? Objective: Your task in this lab is to collect, present and analyze data to determine what is the most clear, straightforward and elegant relationship between the speed of a falling object and either the time or the distance that it has fallen. This means determining whether a more clear relationship exists between speed and time or between speed and distance. It also means determining an equation for the relationship. Lab Report Guidelines Theory: Make sure you explain important concepts that need to be understood to make sense of the rest of the lab. Do this in paragraph form. It’s best if you explain the ideas in a way that relates to how they’ll be used in the lab. Make a list here of important ideas to discuss in your theory section.

Methods: Describe how you collected your data with enough detail that others could follow your description and get the same results. This means identifying and focusing the critical points. Use a labeled diagram. It’s easier and clearer. Describe what you personally did in the past tense – not as a list of instructions for what you should have done. Use “I” not “you”. Data and Analysis: Include graphs of speed vs. distance and speed vs. time. Give equations for lines of best fit. Conclusion: Make sure that you do address the objective by stating whether speed depends more directly on time fallen or distance fallen and as much as possible determine the relationship from the line of best fit. Your conclusion should be based on your data and class data, but does not have to be right. Logically explain how the data led you to your final conclusion. When discussing your errors or the limitations don’t just write a list of possibilities. Describe the ones that were actually likely to have affected your data and what effect they would have had on your data.