Question

Describe a method by which you can independently verify the uncertainty on your force measurements for the Acceleration of a Cart lab.\

Describe a method by which you can independently verify the uncertainty on your acceleration measurements for the Acceleration of a Cart lab.

Answer 1

The cart will be moving on friction less rails.

There will be photo gates that will be determining the speed, by locating the cart positions at various times.

The experiment is completely automated. So, there is no human element during the experiment.

However, the fixing of the photo gates on the linear rails must have been done with the help of a scale. If the scale had a minimum reading of 1 mm, then the error in the position as said by the photo gate is 1mm. So, the error in position is

Next is the time uncertainty. There is the inherent minimum resolution of the timer in the photo gate. If it is 1 ms, the error (uncertainty) in measurement can be .

The point is that it depends on the least count of the instrument that you are using.

Let the uncertainties in position and time be:

The error in the velocity is then given by:

Now,

Thus, the required way to get the uncertainty in the acceleration has been determined using the uncertainties in position and time.