Measuring Velocity of a Sphere - Impulse & Energy Conservation

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lukeblackhill
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Measuring Velocity
AI Thread Summary
For measuring the velocity of a sphere under force, various practical methods include using stroboscopes, long exposure photography, and video with known frame rates. The choice of method largely depends on the available equipment, with school labs often providing better resources like counters and light gates. While electronic construction can offer accurate timing through oscilloscopes, this may not suit all home experimenters. Simulation software is also an option, though it may lack the appeal of hands-on experiments. Overall, the effectiveness of these methods varies based on the experimental setup and the user's preferences.
Lukeblackhill
Messages
39
Reaction score
3
Morning!

I was performing some experiments about impulse and conservation of mechanical energy, and for that I was looking to good ways of measuring the velocity of a sphere under the action of a force. In free fall, having the height H it was falling along, I have used the formula v = (2gH)¹/². I'd like to know if there are more practical (experimental) way of measuring velocity of if I have to recur to indirect, mathematical ways each time.

Thank you!
 
Physics news on Phys.org
This depends on your available equipment. Stroboscopes and long exposure photos and/or video with known frame rate or good time stamping comes to mind.
 
Orodruin said:
This depends on your available equipment. Stroboscopes and long exposure photos and/or video with known frame rate or good time stamping comes to mind.

The idea of the camera is good, @Orodruin. I'll try that. I will also give a look about this Stroboscope. Thank you.
 
Orodruin said:
This depends on your available equipment. Stroboscopes and long exposure photos and/or video with known frame rate or good time stamping comes to mind.
Absolutely agree and it all depends on the level that the OP wants to be experimenting. If the OP has a school or college lab available then there will probably be counters and light gates in a standard Physics Prep room. A TV camera with a good shutter can give timing resolution in the ms range.
The problem with doing these experiments on your own is that nothing is very cheap and you only do each experiment once. In school, the same equipment is much better value because it can be used by several different classes every year.
If you are happy with electronic construction, you can approach most experiments from that angle. A cheap oscilloscope can be used for accurate timing measurements. A scope can be so useful for other things too. But that would only appear to a certain type of home experimenter.
Simulation software is a cheaper way into this topic but it may well just not appeal any more than just doing the calculations.
 

Thread 'Average velocity as a weighted mean'

Hello everyone, Consider the problem in which a car is told to travel at 30 km/h for L kilometers and then at 60 km/h for another L kilometers. Next, you are asked to determine the average speed. My question is: although we know that the average speed in this case is the harmonic mean of the two speeds, is it also possible to state that the average speed over this 2L-kilometer stretch can be obtained as a weighted average of the two speeds? Best regards, DaTario
View full post »

Thread '1:1 versus 2:1 Mechanical Advantage debate'

The rope is tied into the person (the load of 200 pounds) and the rope goes up from the person to a fixed pulley and back down to his hands. He hauls the rope to suspend himself in the air. What is the mechanical advantage of the system? The person will indeed only have to lift half of his body weight (roughly 100 pounds) because he now lessened the load by that same amount. This APPEARS to be a 2:1 because he can hold himself with half the force, but my question is: is that mechanical...
View full post »

Thread 'Newton's first law?'

Some physics textbook writer told me that Newton's first law applies only on bodies that feel no interactions at all. He said that if a body is on rest or moves in constant velocity, there is no external force acting on it. But I have heard another form of the law that says the net force acting on a body must be zero. This means there is interactions involved after all. So which one is correct?
View full post »

Similar threads

B Conservation of momentum and conservation of energy details
Replies
30
Views
2K
Why Does Second Collision in Ballistic Pendulum Lead to Initial State?
Replies
5
Views
1K
B Why in two block systems do both blocks tend to have the same velocity?
Replies
6
Views
1K
B Questions about momentum and force as well as normal force/friction
Replies
35
Views
3K
B Colliding balls: Conservation of momentum and changes in kinetic energy?
Replies
2
Views
2K
I Calculating Water Pool Depth: Factors to Consider in Fluid Dynamics
Replies
13
Views
2K
Collisions Toolkit: Impulse, Momentum & Energy Formulas
Replies
1
Views
2K
Impulse and perfectly inelastic collision between 2 points
Replies
4
Views
746
Experimental determination of the moment inertia of a sphere
Replies
2
Views
2K
How is momentum conserved if you lose kinetic energy?
Replies
38
Views
8K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top