Force of Gravity

The following section is a guide for how to analyse your observations and write up your lab report. This may be a slightly different format than in other courses, but you will be assessed using the same rubric you were assessed against in other courses.

Purpose:

Write the following in your experiment write-up as it is written here.

Hypothesis:

For this section, pick the outcome you would expect based on the increase that is presented. In addition, pick the type of relationship you would expect.

If the ____ increases, then the ____ will increase/decrease in a linear/quadratic/root/inverse manner.

Materials:

Here you will write the materials that you used. Some of the materials you used will match what's on the list, some will differ. Take a picture of your experimental set up to assist with the construction of your list.

Procedure:

Your group will have to come up with your procedure. Ensure that your procedure can be followed word for word. You can't allow a reader to assume that you did something because it makes sense to you.

Observations:

There are two options for observation tables.

Analysis:

In this section you will perform any necessary calculations and graphs.

For this experiment, please create a graph of Gravitational Force vs. Mass. Please use google sheets to create a scatter graph.

Once your scatter graph is created, please add a trendline (this is available under the "Customize" menu in the "Series" section). Also choose "Equation" under the "Label" drop down.

The equation will be in the form of y = mx + b. You could also print your graph and find the slope and line of best fit.

Discussion:

Use full sentences, you don’t have to include the question number or the question text.
You can put some questions together to make a coherent paragraph.
When building a paragraph, ensure that you use point, proof, explanation format.

Sources of Error:

For sources of error, you are to determine some possible ways that you could improve the quality of your observations. How could you improve your position or time measurements?

When reporting this information follow the following structure.

  • Point: Where the error came from.
  • Proof: How your graph or data table supports the first statement.
  • Explanation: Further details into what the error comes from and details as to what can be done to improve the situation.

Conclusion:

  • Summarise what has aready been stated: no new information belongs in the conclusion.
  • Refer to the hypothesis, and ask yourself, "does your graph look as you expected or not?"
  • State the equation of your line of best fit (replace y and x with and ).
  • Restate any improvements that you suggested in your sources of error.

Citations:

Include at least three citations of other material referenced in the development of your experiment report. The list of citations should be in APA or CSE format and use intext citations within your document. Use the EasyBib gDocs add on or citationmachine.net.