Newton’s second law states that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force applied and inversely proportional to the mass of the object. It is often stated in the form:

where F_net is the applied force in Newtons, a is the acceleration of the object in m/s² and m is its mass in kg. The purpose of this experiment is to experimentally confirm the relationship between force and acceleration for constant mass.

A low friction cart will be accelerated by using a falling mass that is connected to the cart via a pulley system as shown in the diagram below. The force applied to the cart will be measured using a force transducer that is attached to the cart and the acceleration is measured with a motion detector that detects the falling mass. Both the force transducer and the motion detector are attached to the Labpro.

Allow the weight to fall from a reasonable height and from its velocity vs time graph determine its acceleration. How is this acceleration related to the acceleration of the cart? Determine the average force applied to the cart during the period when the weight is falling. Why is this force not equal to the weight that is being dropped? Can you derive a relationship between the force on the cart and the weight being dropped? Repeat these measurements several times using as many different weights as possible. Using the data obtained attempt to verify Newton’s second law through graphical analysis.

Design an experiment to verify the relationship between acceleration and mass for constant force.