Name _______________________________
Date______________________
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Acceleration due to Gravity
Basketball vs. Bowling Ball
Background Information
In this experiment, you will investigate if gravity will effect
ffect the acceleration of a bowling
ball versus a basketball. Newton’s Law of Gravity states that every particle in
n the universe
attracts every other particle with the force that is directly proportional to the product of their
masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. Gravity is the
natural force that governs all falling objects on Earth. It is the same force
e that controls the
Moon's orbit around the Earth. Gravity ensures that all falling objects fall at the same rate.
Gravity’s force is constant, 9.8 meters per second.
Hypothesis
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MATERIALS
Document Camera
Personal Computer
Interactive White Board/Projector
/Projector
Bowling Ball
Basketball
Tennis Ball
Meter Stick
1
Name _______________________________
Date______________________
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PROCEDURE
1. Have the students create a hypothesis.
2. Take a meter stick and measure from the ground up 2 meters high. At the top of the 2
meters will be your drop point.
3. Position the document camera so the entire view will be captured when recording.
4. Start recording.
5. Hold the bowling ball and basketball at the same height (2 meters high) and release at
the same time.
6. Repeat step 4, three times.
7. Stop recording and review vide
video.
QUESTIONS
1. State the constant for gravity. _______________________________________________
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2. Which object landed first? __________________________________________________
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Why did this happen? ______________________________________________________
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3. If Earth acted as a vacuum, gravity would be the only thing affecting the objects, but we
do not live in a perfect world. What other factors are affecting the objects when they
are released?
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