Investigating terminal velocity

Describe the method to investigate terminal velocity

1. Wrap elastic bands around the tube of viscous liquid at set intervals measured by the ruler.

2. Drop the ball into the tube and record the time it reaches each band

3. Repeat 4 times to reduce the effect of random errors

4. Use a strong magnet to remove the ball bearing from the bottom of the tube.

Describe the calculations involved in the investigating terminal velocity method

1) Calculate the time taken to travel between consecutive bands and calculate the average of this time for each experiment.

2) Use the equation speed = distance/time to find the average velocity of the bearing between each set of bands.

3) Plot a graph of velocity against time.

4) The velocity to which the graph tends to is the terminal velocity.

How do you reduce % UC in the method investigating terminal velocity?

Using larger intervals for the bands reduces the percentage uncertainty in both the distance and time between the bands.

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