jtbell said:It might be, depending on exactly how your "ticker timer" works. The experiments that I've done using a tape strip involved measuring not the length of the entire tape, but instead the locations of markings made on it as the trolley moves along it. Can you provide more details about your apparatus so we can be sure we're all discussing the same thing?
To conduct this test, you will need a trolley, a ticker timer, ticker tape, a ruler, a stopwatch, and a set of known masses.
First, set up the trolley on a level surface with the ticker timer attached to the side of the trolley. Then, thread the ticker tape through the ticker timer and attach one end to the trolley. Make sure the ticker timer is plugged in and turned on.
1. Place the known mass on the trolley and release it from rest.2. Start the stopwatch as soon as the trolley starts moving.3. Let the trolley travel a known distance (e.g. 1 meter).4. Stop the stopwatch once the trolley reaches the end of the distance.5. Use the ticker tape to determine the average velocity of the trolley during the time it took to travel the distance.6. Repeat the test with different masses and distances to gather multiple data points.
To calculate the acceleration, use the formula a = (vf - vi)/t, where vf is the final velocity, vi is the initial velocity (which is 0 in this case), and t is the time it took for the trolley to travel the distance. Plug in the values from your data points to determine the acceleration for each mass.
Some sources of error in this experiment could include friction between the trolley and the surface, air resistance, and human error in starting and stopping the stopwatch. It is important to take multiple data points and calculate the average to minimize these errors.