In this lab, we’ll try to confirm Newton’s Second Law, which says that the acceleration of an object
is directly proportional to the net force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass.

To demonstrate Newton’s second law, you will need to conduct two different types of setups:
1) Time the motion of the cart keeping the total mass (mass in cart + hanging mass) in the setup constant.
2) Time the motion of the cart keeping the pulling force (due to the hanging mass) constant.

Conduct at least five different trials for each setup, each with a different mass in the cart.
Time each trial three times and average the times.
Using your distance and time data, calculate the actual acceleration, aactual, for each trial in bth setups.
Use d=(1/2)at2 to find the actual acceleration.
Create graphs of the data for each type of setup and analyze them to prove Newton’s second law.

Setup 1: Graph force vs. acceleration.
Setup 2: Graph acceleration vs. mass.

Compare the pulling force from the hanging mass mhg to the calculated pulling force F=mtotalaactual.
They should be equal, but they’re not. Which is greater? Explain the difference between these two forces.

Questions:
1. Draw free body diagrams of the cart and the hanging mass showing all forces acting on them. 4 points
2. Where is friction occurring in your setup? 2 points
3. How could you quantify the force of friction on each setup? 4 points