Physics at Mass Academy is a class taught by Mrs. Chase. This course takes an algebra and calculus-based approach to investigate and model connections between concepts, equations, and graphs. Through classroom discussions and collaborative work, students learn about mechanics, gravitation, electricity, magnetism, waves, and harmonic oscillations. They design, build, and debug their own experiments and lab apparatuses. They analyze their data using statistical methods and report their findings via journal-formatted printouts, poster boards, and slideshow presentations.
During the kinematics unit, we investigated the motion of objects by observing and learning the relationship between the properties of time, velocity, acceleration, and displacement. The objective for this lab specifically was to find the acceleration of a cart traveling on an inclined plane. To accomplish the objective, the cart was released on an inclined plane from various distances away from a sensor, which measured the velocity of the cart as it passed through it. The slope of a linearized graph of the distance traveled and velocity data was used to find the acceleration of the cart. Subsequently, the angle of the inclined plane was changed and the whole experiment was repeated to find the acceleration of the cart at the new angle.
During the dynamics unit, we investigated the forces of gravity and friction on angled levels, using the Atwood machine as our force sensor. In this lab, we developed our own research question to investigate: testing whether the angle of a wooden track affects the coefficient of friction between that wooden track and the hanging mass in a modified Atwood machine. We developed a hypothesis, performed testing, and recorded data which can be seen in the lab report.