Inquiry 2: Force with varied massIntroduction: In this inquiry the relationship between force and mass was studied. This inquiry presents a question: when mass is increased is the force required to move it at a constant velocity increased, and how large will the increase be? It is obvious that more massive objects takes more force to move but the increase will be either linear or exponential. To hypothesize this point drawing from empirical data is necessary. When pulling an object on the ground it is discovered that to drag a four-kilogram object is not four times harder than dragging a two-kilogram object.
I hypothesize that increasing the mass will increase the force needed to move the mass at a constant rate, these increases will have a liner relationship. Materials and Methods:In the experiment these materials were used in the following ways. A piece of Veneer wood was used as the surface to pull the object over. Placed on top of this was a rectangular wood block weighing 0. 148-kg (1.
45 N/ 9. 80 m/s/s). A string was attached to the wood block and then a loop was made at the end of the string so a Newton scale could be attached to determine the force. The block was placed on the Veneer and drug for about 0.
6 m at a constant speed to determine the force needed to pull the block at a constant speed. The force was read off of the Newton scale, this was difficult because the scale was in motion pulling the object. To increase the mass weights were placed on the top of the box and then the block was drug again. Three trials were taken for each weight to assure high accuracy. The average force was determined so that the data could be synthesized into one graph.
The results are as follows:MassForce Trial 1Force Trial 2Force Trial 3Average Force 0. 148 kg0. 40 N0. 40 N0.
40 N0. 40 N0. 248 kg0. 55 N0. 60 N0. 60 N0.
58 N0. 348 kg0. 80 N0. 80 N0. 85 N0.
82 N0. 448 kg1. 1 N1. 1 N1. 1 N1. 1 N0.
548 kg1. 3 N1. 3 N1. 3 N1. 3 N0. 648 kg1.
5 N1. 5 N1. 5 N1. 5 N1.
148 kg2. 7 N2. 8 N2. 6 N2. 7 N1.
648 kg3. 6 N3. 7 N3. 7 N3. 7 NResults and Conclusion:In this inquiry the effects of a variable mass was studied with its results on force.
This inquiry can be extended however. The forces on the block should be analyzed. There are four distinct forces on the block. The force of gravity is the most obvious it pushes down on the block at 9. 80 m/s/s.
Without any additional force the block stays in place, this means that the normal force, the force exerted up and against gravity, must be equal. The two other forces are the force of the pull and the force of friction. When the block moves at a constant speed the force of the pull and the force of friction are also equal. From the inquiry at hand one concludes that with increased mass there is an increased friction because of the increase of force needed to keep a more massive block at a constant speed.
In conclusion the hypothesis stated, that the force would increase in a positive liner fashion, is consistent with the findings in the inquiry. .
