A metal sphere is dropped from rest from the roof of a building and allowed to fall…
PHYSICS · Multi-part · A Level · Physics · Measurements and their errors · Measurements and their errors
Problem
A metal sphere is dropped from rest from the roof of a building and allowed to fall freely through a vertical distance of 19.6m. The average time measured for the fall is 2.02s. Ignore air resistance.
(a) Calculate the numerical value of the acceleration due to gravity obtained from these observations.
(b) Determine the percentage error in the experimental value when compared with the standard value 9.8ms−2.
(c) State, with proper reasoning, whether the result may be considered acceptable if the laboratory norm is that errors up to 5% are allowed.