 |
 |
Newton's Second Law Experiment
Name: Peter
Status: student
Age: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
There is something that I think is not explained well in the
classic Newton Car experiment. In that experiment, a block is shot off the
back of a car (using rubber bands) in one direction, causing the car to roll
in the opposite direction. This experiment explains Newton's Second Law:
orce = Mass x Acceleration So for this experiment: Force (of rubber band) =
Mass (of Block) x Acceleration (of Block) It also explains Newton's Third
Law of equal and opposite reaction: The action force of the block equals the
reaction force exerted on the car. Mass (of Car) x Acceleration (of Car) =
Mass (of Block) x Acceleration (of Block) There is one series of trials
where the number of rubber bands are increased to create a greater force and
the distance the car rolls is measured. With a greater force, the car rolls
further. That is understandable. The question come about when the mass of
the block is increased. In the experiment, weights are added to the block
and the distance the car rolls is measured. As weights are added, the car
rolls further. The explanation given is "Newton's second law states that a
larger mass causes a larger force." But why is that? My thinking is the
force is really caused by the rubber band. That force remains the same. If
the mass of the block is increased, the acceleration of the block should
decrease according to Newton's Second Law. Acceleration (of Block) = Force
(of rubber band) / Mass (of Block) The force, then, on the car, should
remain the same. But the experiment shows the car going further with a
greater mass of the block. Why does this equation not hold? Mass (of Car) x
Acceleration (of Car) = Mass (of Block) x Acceleration (of Block) The
results prove that a greater force is being exerted with a
larger mass. But,
since the force (the rubber band) is the same, it seemingly violates
Newton's Second Law. So something else must be going on that is not apparent.
Replies:
Hi Peter,
It is momentum that is conserved, not force, so equating F = -F = m1a1
= -m2a2 is not quite right. You should have m1v1=-m2v2. (where m1
equals mass 1, with 1 meaning the block, m2 is mass 2, say of the car,
and v is the velocity). Newton's third law does not mean "conservation
of forces", so I think part of the problem is with how you are applying
the third law.
Since it is momentum that is conserved, not force, whatever momentum is
transferred to the block will acquired by the car (neglecting effects
of the bands, etc.). If the mass of the block is increased, and its
velocity is held constant, then when the bands are released, the
momentum of the block will change (i.e. it moves) increase more.
Equally larger momentum will be transferred to the car in the opposite
direction (because momentum is conserved), and since the car mass
does not change, its velocity will increase, causing it to move
farther.
You also run into problems with simplifying assumptions being made
about the rubber bands -- are you presuming they have a constant
amount of energy stored? A constant velocity? It sounds like you are
presuming a constant force -- although I am not sure "real" rubber
bands would supply a constant force. So as weight is increased to the
blocks, you need to be clear how your rubber bands (real or assumed)
are acting. You also do not specify the time/distance for which the
force is applied. In short, the problem as you describe it is
under-defined in that regard.
Hope this helps,
Burr Zimmerman
Peter,
Mass does not cause acceleration. It resists it. It resists its own
acceleration. If you push on a very heavy object, the object resists
being accelerated. Because of this, the object pushes back harder. You
cannot just choose to push hard on something. It must be able to push
back. It is easy to push with ten Newtons of force on a bowling ball.
It is almost impossible to do the same to a feather. The greater mass
being pushed on the cart resists being accelerated by the rubber bands,
pushes back harder on the rubber bands. This in turn allows the rubber
bands to push a little harder than before.
Dr. Ken Mellendorf
Physics Instructor
Illinois Central College
The missing element in your analysis is the duration of the force, i.e. how
long the rubber band is pulling the car forward. You are quite right that,
during the first instant of the experiment, when the rubber band is fully
extended, the force on the car is the same for heavy and light blocks. Thus,
the car's initial acceleration is the same in both cases. But, as you point
out, the car goes farther in the heavy-block case than it does in the
light-block case.
To understand how this makes sense, you need to remember that what is
relevant in determining the car's final speed is not only the instantaneous
magnitude of the acceleration, but also its duration (mathematically, it is
the integral of the force over time that is proportional to the final
velocity). Think about driving an ordinary car: if you push the accelerator
down for half a second, the car does not speed up much, but if you hold it
down for five seconds, it speeds up quite a bit.
Now, in the case of the light block, the rubber band quickly shoots it away
and relaxes, so the duration of the force is short. But, in the case of the
heavier block, the band can not fling it away as fast, so the duration is
longer.
Douglas Sanford
I had to think a while about what the experimental set-up is to be able to
comment on it. First, I will summarize what I understand is happening in the
situation, then I will be able to comment on the physics. If my understanding
of the set-up is incorrect, obviously you will need to disregard my analysis.
I gather that the situation is this: rubber bands are somehow used to fire
blocks of different masses off a cart that is free to roll. As the blocks
move in one direction, the cart rolls the other direction. This exemplifies
Newton's third law, that the cart and the block, acting on each other by way
of the rubber band(s), apply equal-magnitude forces to each other in opposite
directions.
When a more massive block is fired off the cart, the cart rolls farther. Why
is this? Well, it is not a simple matter of changing a single variable in either
of the two Newton's laws. Rather it is a matter of time, momentum, distance, and
energy. The difference is basically this: since the block is now more massive,
is accelerates less under the force from the rubber band. This means that it
takes a longer time to part company with the cart, and that the rubber band is
thus pushing on it for a longer time. Newton's third law requires that as long
as the block is being pushed by the rubber band, so is the cart, in the opposite
direction. So the cart also is pushed by the same (range of) force, and also over a
longer time. Since the cart receives its force for a longer time, it spends more
time accelerating, and thus reaches a higher final speed.
The heavy block is pushed by the same (range of) force as the lighter block, but over
a longer time and a slightly shorter distance. (Why a shorter distance since the
rubber band has to move through the same length change? Because the cart is now
moving in the opposite direction faster than it was with the lighter block, so the
heavy block has not moved as far by the time it leaves the cart.) In a nutshell:
* Both the block and cart receive greater-magnitude impulses (force x time) when the
block is massive than when the block is light.
* Both the block and cart experience greater momentum changes when the block is heavy.
Since the cart's mass is the same in both instances, that means its speed must be greater.
* When the block is light, it travels farther while the force is applied. This means
greater work is done on the light block than on the heavy block, and consequently the
light block has more kinetic energy than the massive block.
* When the block is heavy, the CART travels farther while the force is applied. This
means that more work is done on the cart when the block is massive than when the block
is light. Thus, the cart also gains more kinetic energy when the block is massive than
when the block is light.
* The total momentum change of the (cart + block) is zero in both cases. The cart and
block undergo equal and opposite momentum changes. The cart's momentum changes the most
when the block is massive.
* The total kinetic energy gain is also the same in both cases, because the same amount
of potential energy stored in the stretched rubber band becomes kinetic energy of the block
and cart. When the block is light, more of the kinetic energy gain is by the block, and
less is by the cart, than when the block is massive.
Richard Barrans Jr., Ph.D., M.Ed.
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Wyoming
Click here to return to the Physics Archives
| |
Update: June 2012
|
|
