Van der Graaf (pie pans)

'The charge on the Van der Graaf generator is used to charge up the thin aluminum plates. Each plate gets the same sign of charge and therefore repels the other plates ("opposites attract, like-signs repel"). The same effect happens if you touch the Van der Graaf generator yourself. All of your hairs will repel each other, and if they are long and clean and not tied down, they will all stand on end, as far away from each other as possible.'--http://van.physics.illinois.edu/qa/listing.php?id=2288

The same change in charges occures to the plastic hairs taped to the VdG generator, causeing them to stand on end.

Oscillating Mass Lab

In this lab, we hooked different amounts of mass to a spring. We would measure the springs displacement by subtracting the length of the spring when compressed from the length of the spring when at rest with the weight on it. Then we observed the time it took for one oscillation, or period. With these factors we were able to find the constant of the spring, K, and the force of the mass on the spring. The greater the mass, the longer the time in each period, and the greater the force.

Cardboard Chair Progress Pics

Inertia Video

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000037493055#!/permalink.php?story_fbid=240256902701535&id=100000037493055

Inertia Video Lab

For our inetria project, we filled a beaker with water. We then placed a paper arrow in the water and it floated at the top. We spun the beaker around. Surprisingly the arrow either stayed in the same place, or had a long delay before moving with the glass. This result is caused by the inertia and lack of friction between the water and the glass. The force of inertia causes the water to stay in place while the glass moves. The arrow just shows the movement of the water.

Gabby in Physics: Newton's Second Law (F = ma)

Gabby in Physics: Newton's Second Law (F = ma): Newton's Second Law states that the acceleration of an object is dependent upon two variables - the net force acting upon the object and the...

Friction Lab

In this lab, we were supposed to find the static friction of a block on a slanted board with one side covered in sand paper and then the other side smooth. The block weighed 161.5 g. We placed the block, on its sandpaper side, on the board. We then tilted the board upward from the table until the block started to slide. We found the angle closest to the point of sliding without sliding. The angle for the sandpaper side was 42 degrees. The angle for the smooth side was 17 degrees. we then used sin and cos to find our components (ex: 42cos161.2). We found that the static friction of the sand papered side was 1.06N and the static friction of the smooth side was .463N.