Rishi Garg

Physics, 6th Period

Mr. McQueen

11 March 2008

Science Inquiry Project

Question:
Are Newton's second and third laws of motion true?

Hypothesis:
I believe that Newton's second and third laws are true. Newton’s second law
states that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net
force acting on the object and inversely proportional to the object’s mass.

The formula for Newton’s second law is: F=ma, where F is force, m is mass,
and a is acceleration. This means that an object’s net force is equal to the
product of its mass and acceleration. Newton’s third law states that if two
objects interact, the magnitude of the force exerted on object 1 by object 2 is
equal to the magnitude of force simultaneously exerted on object 2 by object
1, and these two forces are opposite in direction. In other words, when one
object hits another, the second object moves away in a direction opposite to
the first object with an equal force.

I will use two carts of the same mass. This will help me because I can
take one variable out of the situation. Now, the modified version of Newton’s

second law formula is F=a. Also, in order to prove both laws at the same
time, I can take force out of the situation. This is because, according to the
modified second law formula, force is equal to acceleration. Therefore,
theoretically according to Newton’s third law, when one of the carts hits the
other, both of them should have the same acceleration. If they do indeed
have the same acceleration, I will have proven Newton’s second and third
laws to be true.

Materials:

 Two metal carts with equal mass

 One metal ramp for carts
 Two Vernier motion detectors
 One LabPro
 Two brackets for motion detectors
 Two pairs of magnets for carts
 Two notecards
 Tape for the notecards
 Computer with Logger Pro software

Variables:

Independent – the acceleration of the first cart just before it hits the second
cart

Dependent – the acceleration of the second cart just after it gets hit by the
first cart

Procedure:

 Install one pair of magnets in each cart, making sure that the magnets
are directed in a way that the two carts repel each other.

 Set up the ramp and adjust it so that the two carts stay in place while
on the ramp and do not roll because of an incline.

 Tape each notecard to the end of each cart that is closest to the motion
detector on each of the carts’ respective sides, in a way that blocks
each detector from seeing the cart that is further away from it.

 Attach the two motion detectors to the brackets.

  Attach the one bracket to each end of the metal ramp and secure them
so that they will not move when a cart crashes into one of them.

 Connect the LabPro to the computer and to a power source.

 Connect the two motion detectors to the LabPro.

 Open the Logger Pro software on the computer and set it up so there
are two graphs; one with time vs. acceleration 1 and the other with
time vs. acceleration 2 (1 and 2 denote the two different motion
detectors)

 Place a cart on the ramp so that the edge of the cart is at the 60 cm
line (using the scale on the ramp).

 Position the second cart on the ramp so that the magnets inside it are
pointed a direction that will repel the first cart. Also, place the cart at
the very end of the ramp.

 Have one student ready to push the "Collect" button in Logger Pro and
another student ready to push the second cart toward the first cart.

 Have the first student push the "Collect" button, then have the second
student push the second cart somewhat slowly (does not have to be
exact) toward the first cart.

 After the first cart reaches the other end of the ramp, have the first
student press the "Stop" button in Logger Pro.

 Record the highest acceleration from each of the two graphs.

 Repeat steps 8-13, each time increasing the velocity of the pushed
cart.

Data:

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 Trial 5

Max. Accel. 1
(m/s^2) 2.6 2.9 3.1 3.5 4
Max. Accel. 2
(m/s^2) 2.3 2.7 2.9 3.25 3.75

(Graph on next page)

Analysis:

In my science inquiry project, I was trying to prove Newton’s second

and third laws of motion. Newton’s second law states that the acceleration of
an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on the object and
inversely proportional to the object’s mass. The formula for Newton’s second

law is: F=ma, where F is force, m is mass, and a is acceleration. This means
that an object’s net force is equal to the product of its mass and
acceleration. Newton’s third law states that if two objects interact, the
magnitude of the force exerted on object 1 by object 2 is equal to the
magnitude of force simultaneously exerted on object 2 by object 1, and these
two forces are opposite in direction. In other words, when one object hits
another, the second object moves away in a direction opposite to the first
object with an equal force. Throughout my project, I assumed that Newton’s
second and third laws were true, unless proved otherwise by me.

In order to prove both of these laws in using one procedure, I realized

that I could use two carts with the same mass. This helped me because since
the masses were equal, I could take one variable out of the situation. Now,

the modified version of Newton’s second law formula is F=a. Also, in order to
prove both laws at the same time, I realized that I could take force out of the
situation. This is because, according to the modified second law formula,
force is equal to acceleration. Therefore, theoretically according to Newton’s
third law, when one of the carts hits the other, both of them should have the
same acceleration. This made my project very simple because I only needed
to measure one variable: acceleration.

In order to properly prove these two laws, I realized that I needed to do

many trials with different accelerations of the first cart in each. I decided to
start with a low acceleration, then to increase it each time. It didn’t matter
exactly what the acceleration each time was; it only mattered if the first and
second carts’ accelerations were the same.

In the first trial, the first cart’s acceleration was 2.6 m/s2. The second
cart’s acceleration was 2.3 m/s2. The difference between the two is only 0.3
m/s2. In the second trial, the first cart’s acceleration was 2.9 m/s2, and the
second cart’s acceleration was 2.7 m/s2. This time, the difference was only
0.2 m/s2. In the third trial, the first cart’s acceleration was 3.1 m/s2, and the
second cart’s acceleration was 2.9 m/s2. The difference is, again, 0.2 m/s2. In
the fourth trial, the first cart’s acceleration was 3.5 m/s2, while the second
cart’s acceleration was 3.25 m/s2. The difference in this trial was only 0.25
m/s2. In the last trial, the first cart’s acceleration was 4.0 m/s2 while the
second cart’s acceleration was 3.75 m/s2. Again, the difference is only 0.25
m/s2. As one can see, the differences between the first and second carts’
accelerations are always below 0.3 m/s2. This negligible difference can be
explained by analyzing the reliability and limitations of my procedure.

I used Vernier motion detectors to measure the acceleration of the two

carts. Although these are very useful devices, they are not completely
accurate. Scientific devices can never be accurate, even though they can be
very close. Also, the carts might have been slightly different from each other.
For example, the axel in one of the carts might have been set a different way
from the other, causing more friction in that cart and therefore reducing the
overall acceleration. Another reliability issue might involve the metal ramp.
Although there is very little friction and the track looks extremely smooth,
there might have been slight imperfections in the track, causing the carts to
lose some of their acceleration. Because of all these possible limitations, it is
understandable to have a slight deficit in the data. This means that since the
accelerations of the two carts were extremely similar in each trial, it is safe
to say that under ideal conditions, they would have been the same.
Therefore, I have successfully proven Newton’s second and third laws of
motion to be true.
 If I were to do this project again, I would definitely modify my
procedure in order to be more accurate. First of all, I’d make sure that the
two motion detectors were calibrated the same way before I began my
testing. I’d probably also measure the distance the carts traveled and use
that to calculate the acceleration, so that I would have the acceleration
calculated from two different sources. I would then compare them and make
sure that they were very similar. This would ensure accuracy of the data.

If I were told to build upon this project, I would use objects with
different masses to prove Newton’s second and third laws. For example, I
might use a basketball and a tennis ball. I might also try proving only the
third law using sound waves and a surface on which to receive the waves. I
think that it would be interesting to see if the law applies to things we can’t
see.